Living in the Present Tense

I heard this poem at Women of Faith this past weekend.


Present Tense


It was spring,
but it was summer I wanted,
The warm days, and the great outdoors.


It was summer,
but it was fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves, and the cool, dry air.


It was fall,
but it was winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow, and the joy of the holiday season.


It was winter,
but it was spring I wanted,
The warmth and the blossoming of nature.


I was a child,
but it was adulthood I wanted,
The freedom and respect.


I was 20,
but it was 30 I wanted,
To be mature, and sophisticated.


I was middle-aged,
but it was 20 I wanted,
The youth and the free spirit.


I was retired,
but it was middle-age I wanted,
The presence of mind without limitations.


My life was over,
and I never got what I wanted.


This poem was written by Jason Lehman who was 14 years old when he wrote it.  Pretty insightful teenager, wouldn't you say?


Life passes by so quickly and if we live always wanting something different than what we have-the life we are living in at the moment-we never enjoy any of it. Living life like that just means it flies by, and we never grasped it, we never appreciated what we were given, we never enjoyed the present, the gift of daily life. We can wish away our lives, longing for a different season, or a different season in our own lives, but we need to enjoy, grab, and truly live each day.  We were given the gift of life, to live it, to live it fully, to love those around us, and to be completely alive each day.  Each day is a choice, which choice will you make?


I did not want to, when I came to die, find that I had not lived. ~Thoreau