Once upon a time was enough

This weekend I found myself on a college campus briefly and I out of the blue, I just thought, "I'm soooo glad I'm not a college kid anymore!"

Don't get me wrong. I love college kids! There's a whole bunch of them at work, half of my neighbors are college kids, I have three college-kid nieces, and I took one of them on a road trip with me this weekend. It's a great age! And I loved being that age, when I was that age. Probably not every second of it, but I have really great memories, for the most part. (I do seem to have blocked out a lot of the college stress, though, so who knows what else I'm forgetting). I had some fun times.  Also, I'd love to go back and work at a college or university, too, so I'd be surrounded by college kids. I'm really not the grumpy old person who just can't stand youth, I promise.

I'm just really glad it's not my time of life. I am glad I had that time, and I'm glad that there are people having that time. I'm just really glad it's not my time of life, and I think that's mostly because I know so much more now and have done so much more--some good, some not so good--and how do you trade all of that to be young and less aware?

It's kind of like watching toddlers learn. They are so adorable and sweet and it's so fun to see them figure out the world! But if they stayed a toddler forever, it would just be wrong. Disturbingly wrong. As bittersweet as it is, growing is part of the fun. And it's the same for adults. We may think we want to be young forever, but really, that isn't right.

And so, I'm really glad (even as much as I complain and get frustrated with things) that I am where I'm at in life. And if I do it right, I'll still be glad in twenty years.