Wishing It All Away....

So, as most people I am sure, I frequently find myself sitting at my desk (or in the lecture hall or standing in lab...or whatever) saying, "I wish today would just end so that I can *blank*. Usually this blank is filled with just go home, but then when I get home, I usually have to study so the blank becomes so I can go to bed, etc, etc. I'm sure you get my point. I showed up to the orthodonist one day (yes I am 22 years old and I have braces, get used to it...or don't, I'm still trying to). Anyway, on the day I showed up to the orthodonist, I was harassed and frustrated because I had to hurry to get there after my class and then afterwards I had to hurry back to get to another class. I've looked ahead in my schedule for school and after October 21, my life should get simpler. Well, I am done with anatomy anyway. But at least most days I won't be in school until 5 everyday, not that the material will be any easier. So I said to my orthodonist, I just wish anatomy will be over with so my life will be easier. She said to me "Ashley, you shouldn't wish everything away just so that your life will get easier. Life is never going to get any easier. My mother is 65 and retired and her life is still hectic." While this statement isn't exactly optimistic, to say it never gets any easier...well yeah it probably never will, but it would still be nice to be done with anatomy. (By the way, I like my orthodontist...we have good conversations). So then, the other day I found myself sitting and saying to myself, "I just wish this year would be over...then it'll get better." Where the logic is, I don't know, but I surprised myself, first I started wishing 3 months away, and then a year. Now I've always done the "I wish this week were over" so that I could get to the weekend, but....an entire year? I'm not so sure I (or anyone for that matter) should be wishing years away.
I don't know how many years I have, so wishing them away definitely isn't smart. It reminds me of the movie "Click." If you've seen it, you know that wishing everything away and for time to move faster can be tragic. Yes, I know it's a movie, but it makes a good point. I've also read this book, by an author I highly enjoy. No, the book isn't some 400 pages about life or the meaning of life. But instead you can regularly find it in the gift aisle, it has mostly pictures, and is a total of 110 pages...but like I said...it's mostly about the pictures. It's called "Tomorrow" by Bradley Trevor Greive. It's one of those little cute books, that you buy for....I'm not really sure what the reason is. My mom bought this for me when I was unsure what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Anyway, pg. 86 "Likewise, you must be very careful what you wish for, because you simply cannot lie to yourself and get away with it. When you are not honest about what you want in life, you hurt those closest to you and yourself most of all. Think very clearly about what you care about most....But don't spend all your time dreaming about the future, because the key to tomorrow is today." So yeah, I like that quote from the book...yes, it may be a little cliche, but it rings true and you know it. I know I really don't want these days to be gone. There are moments in every day that I know I would never give up. Today for example, I had a doctor's appointment to check my mouth after the surgery. I am 22 years old and I don't really need to have somewhere there when I go to the doctor anymore. Today, my dad showed up to my doctor's appointment. He wanted to be there, just in case. In case of what I'm not really sure, but he was still there. We talked football and about our days, then we went to our homes.
Anyway, so I kind of deviated off of what I was really trying to say, but that's okay. What I really wanted to say was that this whole theme of not wishing it all away keeps coming up. Last night as I was studying with some friends, one of them said, I just wish this all were over. Another friend replied "Don't wish this away, this is the best part of it all."
I think it's human nature to just wish away the parts of our lives that aren't the greatest or in fact are just downright bad. But are these the moments that make us stronger? If everything were easy, then what would we work for? Maybe a life without work would be easy...but it would be boring as hell.
So anyway, in my philosophical musings, I just want to say to not wish it all away. Every moment we have...there's something there to be appreciated. I have a picture on my bookcase to remind me of this everday. It says "Look for the small miracles and you'll find they're everywhere." I'm not trying to be cheesy, and most of the time I forget about this. But it's so scary that sometimes we wish our moments away when we never know when it's going to be our last moment or the last moment of those that we are living our lives with. So contemplate and plan and dream about tomorrow, but make sure you fully appreciate today.

And I am now done with my cheesy, touchy, hug, hug, tear, tear moment.