One of my kids received a college acceptance package the other day that I found a little jarring. I probably shouldn’t have. It was just a message on a box meant to get my kid excited about attending, but I found it off-putting. It wasn’t offensive or anything like that. Just some simple words intended to stoke enthusiasm for the time ahead. It read: Welcome to the Best Years of Your Life.
Now maybe this college was referring to all of the years that lie ahead of you—not just the four where you are a student walking their halls, but it dredged up an old feeling in me. One that I remember experiencing when I was a college student myself. Back then, when I was a senior, classmates were lamenting the end of college. You couldn’t blame them. Our parents and countless other adults had told us for years how these were going to be the best years of our lives—a commentary I always resented. Every time I heard another well-wisher reminding me that it “only gets worse from here,” I’d offer an obligatory smile and think: If that’s true, then what’s the point?
It’s one thing, though, to hear it from doting mothers, envious fathers, or somebody’s drunk uncle at the next tailgate. I could always chalk that up to people simply missing a time when their life was devoid of adult responsibility. But when you hear it directly from the college it feels a little too much. A little too inward looking. A little too bleak.
Take It Easy
My kids and their friends would probably tell me, “It’s not that deep,” and they’d probably be right. A little messaging from a college campus, hoping to fill a prospective student with some excitement, isn’t willfully creating a dystopian look at the future. But of course, I can’t help it—I think everything runs a little deep—which is probably why I write.
So, to all the colleges, and all the college-bound kids out there, I’d like to remind you that while the college years are in fact, GREAT years for many, they are not the end-all and be-all of life. And for some, college ain’t that great at all. I had a great time, but I know many who preferred high school. Regardless, you should never look at any one block of time in your life as the best. Maybe when you are old, sitting in a rocking chair, smoking a cigar and looking out on the world, you can reflect on some of your favorite times, but you should also relish that opportunity to share those stories with a grandchild or an old friend—because holding all of those memories in your mind, all at once, makes that the new best day of your life.
The Best Years Are…
The point is, there is really only one way to go through life that’s healthy: to feel that every day ahead of you is a chance to live the greatest day you ever lived. That this year is going to be better than last year, and the next year will be better than this one. That you are going somewhere new and somewhere different with each step. An ever-winding approach towards a fulfillment that you’ve never known before.
And there is no point in defining what makes a certain time the “best years of your life” or the “greatest day ever” because there are so many greats to experience. So many unpredictable moments waiting for you down the road. So, all you have to do is take another step and see what comes next, because that’s all there really is—and when you really think about it, is there anything better than that?