Mackenzie+S’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016


 * Live in the Now **

Now that I’m almost done with junior year, I’ve realized that I’ve changed a lot. I’ve had to handle a lot more responsibility which has pulled me farther away from my childhood and pushed me closer and closer to adulthood. This year especially, I have spent a lot of time longing for the past and worrying about the future. I had an amazing childhood and I am hoping for an amazing future. I had an amazing childhood and I am hoping for an amazing future, but right now, I feel as if I am stuck in the middle. I often catch myself saying things like, “If I could just graduate high school, then I will be happy and everything will be all good”, or “If I could just get into a good college, then I will be happy and everything will be all good.”

We are always looking for the next best thing, the thing that will sustain us and supposedly bring us content. By always looking to what’s next, we might miss what life has for us in the now. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to be excited for the future, or that it’s wrong to reminisce in the past. What I am saying, is that what’s happening right now us just as important as what has been and what is to come. I’ve realized that I have been completely missing what is going on in my now. I’ve actually been counting down each day as if it was just a checkpoint on my journey to happiness and a better life. This is no way to live, and I’ve missed out on so much by doing so. I made a list of all of the things that I have missed out on this year while I was constantly caught up with worrying about my future. I didn’t include my list in this speech, because most of it is personal stuff, but believe me; I missed out on a lot.

We are each only given one life, and it’s up to us what we do with it. We don’t know how long, or short, it’s going to be, so we have to make the most of what we are given. It’s easy to take it for granted. Maybe, like me, you are caught up in the mystery of your future, or maybe you are stuck in your past. I came across this verse, it says, “Dear Friends, Life is a gift, Life is short, Life is a vapor. Live a good life-Be thankful for each day. Enjoy the blessing of each new day, living each day thankfully and gratefully, not living in the past or taking life for granted.”

Another verse I found comes from Ecclesiastes, in the Bible, it says,

“After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now.”

I want to grow old in an America where everyone has this mindset, where everyone lives each day to the fullest. Imagine what we could accomplish if we consistently lived in the now. The possibilities are endless. I’m tired of over thinking every little thing, I’m tired of always worrying about the future and wishing for the past. We only have one year left in high school. I encourage you, as I have encouraged myself, to start living your life in the now. I know it might be hard sometimes, and I know that next year is going to be rough. There’s no question about that. But what if we woke up each morning expecting the best in each day, instead of preparing for the worst? I regret all of the days that I’ve wasted by not enjoying the now. But the best part about the now is that there’s another one tomorrow, and I’m gonna start making them count.