The grass doesn't always have to be greener on the other side

   There's a reason adults tell children and teens to enjoy their childhood, not to grow up so fast, and that they'll miss the years they're rushing to get through. As adults we sometimes mourn for those wonderful days full of building forts, riding bikes, girls nights, football games, and our seemingly end-of-the-world break up with our boyfriend of three weeks.

When we were in it, we hated it.

     Now that we realize how easy and carefree it was (for the most part), we miss it.

We mourn it.

   Growing up hurts. It's painful, difficult, eye-opening and sometimes downright brutal. We learn the tricks of the trade - the way the real world really works...

Decisions never end.

Risks have to be taken.

The responsibilities are endless.

Your body won't let you sleep past nine o'clock.

No one works to protect you, you have to protect yourself.

Most people are more concerned with their own self-interests.

   These lessons are realized experience after experience, mistake after mistake, and triumph after triumph. It's hard, yet it's beautiful. The thing is, that's just the way it works. No matter how hard we try, every eight-year-old, every teenager, every recent high school graduate is going to wish the same thing - to just grow up.

Innocence and ignorance.

That's the simple beauty of it.

   As hard, painful, difficult, eye-opening and brutal as it may be, something wonderful happens as we all go through it. We come to find out who we are, who we want to be, what we stand for, and who stands for us. I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even the hide-and-seek, all-nighters, or senior-skip days. We have the power and agency to live a life full of the things that make us happy, forts and college-junior-skip-days included. No matter what decisions we're facing, what risks we're taking, what responsibilities are weighing us down, how tired we are at eight o'clock on a Friday night, how exposed we feel, and how wronged we have been, we learn how to live a truly beautiful life.

We make the moments that in turn make us.

   We're in control of our happiness. We come to realize that making the most of every decision, every responsibility, every risk, every hardship, and every day is how we come to know happiness. The key to our outlook on life lies within ourselves.

We must simply be content.