Cristian+R’s+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech


 * Live In The Moment **

"Live in the moment." We've all heard it before, but not many people actually take these words to heart.

Truly living in the moment means: 1) not putting off what you really love to do; 2) not fretting over the past and 3) savouring the very fact that, right now, you are alive! I'm not saying that people who live in the moment are unprepared for what comes. You can still live in the moment and be organized. And yes, you can still apologize for a mistake, as we must do at some time or another. But when you're doing whatever it is you are doing, do it whole-heatedly. Living in the moment is important because you'll be happier than people who spend their time regretting what happened in the past or dreading the future. People who live in the moment also have more motivation to do kind things for others, go outside, and have adventures. Who doesn't like to see the smile on another person's face when you compliment them?

Here's an example. This past year most of us spent our time studying for the AP Tests. All this studying was done in order to prepare for the future. And why do we take the AP test? So that in the future we can use the credits from the test to not take a class in college and use the grade bump we get from the class so that we can be competitive when applying to college. All this time spent worrying about the future has deprived us from doing the things that we love, and going out with friends and just enjoying your day simply since you have to study. We have spent too much time this year worrying about the future instead of just living in the moment.

So why not live in the moment? It is believed to be one of the keys to life happiness. You can really have fun! But it is not so simple we’ve got to go to school. And even once we are out of school we are expected to go to work for the rest of our lives.This of course gets in the way of living in the moment since you can’t do what you truly believe in and enjoy, plus the fact that your teachers won’t exactly understand your motivations for staring out the window and “savouring the moment”. In short, social norms and rules try to bring you down. My advice: don’t let them. You can still savour the moment— still enjoy your life— despite the fact that you go to school. Walk into that “dread building” with confidence and happiness. In other words, make yourself enjoy your school life—since it does makes up for 6 hours of your day!

Before it wasn’t always as difficult to live in the moment. I find that the more technologically we are surrounded by the less likely we are to live in the moment. Think back to when we were little kids. All we did was play outside and have fun with friends. Technology didn't have a big role in our lives at the time except for when rugrats or Sesame Street came on. But as we've grown older technology has taken over our lives more and more. Now instead of going out to the park or to hangout with friends and enjoying life, we spend our time on our phones, watching tv. These human-made devices make it easy to forget about what matters in life—enjoying yourself, helping others, being connected to the world around you, and so much more.

When somebody has a difficult life, they may dismiss the idea of living in the moment. Instead, they take the easy route: they use escapes. My definition of an escape is anything that takes your thoughts away from reality. Examples include: video games, excessive reading, excessive sleeping, random Google searches, etc. The problem with escapes is that they don't give you motivation in life. Let’s say you were a reader—but you were reading all the time, during meals, before school, during school, after school, in the evening—you get it. You may start to find that your enjoyment of life becomes even less than it was before you found this escape. Thoughts like, “What is the point of my life? So instead of escaping from reality, find hobbies that keep you in this world. Play sports, get outdoors, and spend time with your friends! You can have an awesome life, but it’s up to you to make it that way!

Intellectuals may dismiss living in the moment as daft. But really, it isn’t. Living in the moment is about enjoying life, and isn’t that what life is all about? Life isn’t about studying, or passing the time with boredom busters. It’s about living! When you are old and about to die, you won’t be priding yourself over knowing Calculus or Newton's Laws of Motion, or how many Instagram followers you had. But you will smile when you remember all those adventures you had with friends and hours of volunteer work that you did. You will laugh when you remember the time you went to the beach and the seagulls stole all your food. And your eyes will twinkle when you remember the way your dog used to lick your face. So the America I want to grow old in is in an America where people start to live in the moment. Instead of fretting the past and dreading the future.