I am so tired of everyone waiting. We spend our lives waiting for Friday, for next weekend, for summer to start, for the holidays to come, for winter to end, to make more friends, for college to start, for college to end, for “real life” to start, to move away…to move away from the friends and family you know to an unknown place, to get our dream job, to meet the love of our life, for him to get down on one knee, for that special day to finally come, for children to be born, for them to start school, for them to get out of school, for them to get married and have children of their own. We spend our lives waiting.

After all is said and done, you’ll be waiting again…waiting to die. You’ll be lying on your death bed waiting…still. Waiting for the time when you die and when your loved ones can finally move on with their lives. What an awful life to live…a life of waiting. Stop waiting and start living because you are living in the real world…today…every day.

The real world doesn’t come on your first day of school, on your first day of college, on your first day at your first real job, it doesn’t start when you get married, when your first child is born, when you retire, and it certainly doesn’t start when you die. Your real life started the day you were born. But every day you spend waiting for something miraculous to happen, you miss out on the beautiful life happening around you.

Today I have no job, no boyfriend, I just moved back home, and I have no clue what career I want to pursue. But today I also have parents who love me, friends who make me laugh, I live in America, one of the most privileged countries in the world. I have my health, I have a college education, and most of all — I’m alive. I’m alive and I’m not waiting because today is real life. Today is my real life because tomorrow never comes and I refuse to spend my life waiting because that is no way to live.

Today I went for a walk with my dad, to the movies with my friend, and started reading a book. I didn’t meet my future husband, I didn’t land my dream job (or any job for that matter), and I didn’t purchase a ticket to travel the world. But today was extraordinary because I spent it with two people I love and because I am healthy and I am alive. I am happy today, not because I have everything I want, I am happy today because I have everything I need and I trust that where I am today is exactly where I’m meant to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my fears for the future and am excited to see what the next part of my life brings, but at the same time — that point may never come. I could go to bed tonight and never wake up, I could get into a fatal car accident tomorrow morning, or worse — someone I love more than anyone in the world could fall ill or drop dead in the blink of an eye. When they die, how will I remember spending my life with them? Waiting? Waiting for the next best thing to come along, not realizing that while I was waiting for the next part of my life, I was also waiting for them to pass me by. In 15 years I could be married, I could have a house full of children, and I could have a thriving career. For all I know at that same time, my parents could be gone, my friends could be scattered across the globe, and my life in my hometown could be long gone.

So if you have friends who are fine with this reality and still want to wish these years by, then with all due respect, tell them to walk out of your life today, forever. Because clearly the privileged life they live today isn’t enough and the life they live in the future will never be enough because they fail to appreciate what they already have. You should have no interest in surrounding yourself with these kinds of people. Walk away not because they accept this reality, walk away because they clearly don’t value the life you share today since they spend their lives wishing the time they were granted away.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short 21 years of life, it’s not to wish your life away because sometimes you get just what you wish for. Time passes quickly enough without you wishing to change the place you stand and where you are.