The cult-classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is one of my absolute favorite movies to watch, mostly because of the great acting and terrific message that is best summed up when the main character, Ferris, says, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
It’s a quote for a time I had as my screensaver on my phone. I think it captures the idea that we tend to get lost in our daily issues, and don’t take a step back to see life for what it is, and if we fail to see and enjoy it, we cease to live it.
Now this quote didn’t reenter my mind because the movie is now on Netflix.
It struck me right after New Year’s how truly fast life moves. To put my thoughts in perspective, when this previous decade started, in 2010, I was a third grader and 10 years old. Now, as we enter this decade, I am 19, soon to be 20, and a sophomore in college.
That time flew by in a flash; it still feels like yesterday that I was in a fifth grade classroom learning about algebra and now I’m taking a variety of courses to prepare me for my major and postsecondary educational life and career.
By the time this decade ends, there is a very real possibility that I, and most surely people I know, will be married, have children or both.
Others and I will most likely own homes, have full-time jobs, be worried about paying off the mortgage, working to pay the bills, planning for retirement, and more.
To realize that will all be here in a flash was a bit of an eye-opener, and in the moment filled me with a tad bit of anxiety.
Thinking about it more brought me back to that quote, and since then I knew it’s what I wanted my first column of the semester to revolve around.
Life is a precious thing we have all been gifted, and it is imperative that we enjoy it to the best of our abilities.
A new year’s resolution for us all should be to live the life we all want to live. If you have that ability to take a week-long cruise to the Caribbean, take it. If you have the chance to study abroad for the semester, do it. If you have a chance to take an internship or job you’re really excited about, take it.
Life is too short and is filled with too much unknown not to take some chances and enjoy some of the finer things; you owe it to yourself to take the opportunities granted to you, and to enjoy those around you, such as your friends and family. Life for all of us isn’t forever, and so as it is, enjoy the time you have left with your loved ones.
Lastly, enjoy the little things, such as taking a walk or reading a book; it’s the little things that’ll seem huge in retrospect.

MICHAEL GUIDO
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