hoping that those days would go on and on forever

i'm 18, going to be 19 come november, and this is supposed to be the best times of my life isn't it?

it's always been said that one's teenage years are the best years of ones life, when freedom is not yet marred with responsibilities, when energy is not yet a limiting factor, and when our view of the world is not yet tinted with the lens of distrust, cynicism and hurt.

so many a times my older friends had said to me to enjoy myself, do the things that i love, and develop new interests, even as i work hard academically, during these years, as they themselves look back fondly at their own 'golden years'.

sure exams suck, and studying stinks, and post-graduation life appears comfy and rosy, but that is all that it is, they'd say- it only appears to be so. cliched as it is, the grass always look greener on the other side.

and i've always tried to live like that, prioritising the things that i love first, enjoying myself with the joy that these activities bring to me while i still can, because sooner or later (and the sad thing is that it normally is sooner, rather than later), we'll find that the time that we have to engaged in that activity which we love will diminish with the increased duties that we find ourselves yoked with.

i've seen first hand how growing older means that the things that were once a significant part of our very being have to now take a back seat in the journey we call life. i've seen my friends grapple with the responsibilities of family life and the obligation of social life, and when push comes to shove, something's got to give, and it's their social life, football that is almost unceremoniously packed into boxes and left in the attic. and there is nothing wrong with that. nothing at all, for there are different seasons in life, and each season calls for a different set of clothes. but somewhere in the recesses of my being, i'm reluctant to surrender the insouciance of youth so easily, and ergo, i keep the things that i enjoy, the things that i want to do on top of the mental list of to-dos.

in economics, we learn that for every choice that a consumer makes, there is a trade-off. and i've got many friends who have had to trade their leisure for labour.

one friend, a football khaki was sent on attachment by his school, and thus is unable to join us for football. this is most lamentable, but like i said, all part of growing up. we still keep in contact, and he often moans about not being able to join us says he'll join us whenever he can.

another friend though, because of money got a job, and stopped joining us. he says that he wants to join us, but it can't be helped. and i found this the most puzzling. work is inevitable, like it or not. we will have to join the ranks of the employed and work, labour, toil. so why the urgency to start doing what we will be required to do for decades, if we do live that long, and if we don't, we'll die with the knowledge that we died giving up what we revel in for money that we didn't get to spend. damn, that's almost funny, if only it wasn't so tragic.

now i'm not saying that working now is bad, in fact, i think that it is a brilliant idea to work during the holidays (i do), buy a few things that we like with the extra dollars. what i am saying is that putting work ahead of our hobbies, while it may seem all wise and grown-up and responsible and sensible now, is ultimately a poor decision. because when we look around us and find that age, circumstances and responsibilities have all caught up with us, then, putting pleasure before profession would indeed be unwise, ungrown-up, irresponsible and insensible.

hoping that those days would go on and on forever
every day something new
just friends running together
but suddenly school ends
your teenage life's gone
all your mates are growing up now
they're moving on
and now i'm looking back