Why are the good days always in the past?

Turn back the clock a few years back. You had a house that you don’t have to pay rent or a mortgage. Food was served every meal of the day. Your parents made sure it is healthy and delicious. They will do their best to make the meal you craved on those Sunday afternoons. You don’t have to worry about dishwashing. It is all taken care of after you leave the table with a full belly. 

You had a lot of friends at school to talk to. Plus, you’ll be effortlessly making new ones every year. They were there to lighten your mood, imitate the teachers, make silly comments about anything and anyone, mostly you. You had a friend to walk with you during break. I’m sure you remember once the bell rings and the teacher leaves there is that one friend who’ll stand up and signal you to join them. You had a group to eat with you at lunch. Usually it has one slow-eater, one same-food-everyday, one keen-on-other-lunch, one who eats nothing and gives away everything, one quick-eater and so on. And the classes right after lunch are just the worst but the best time to sleep. Chalks and duster will be flying across the room to wake you up. 

Eventually at the end of the day, you had a friend with you on your way back home. Maybe you might make a stop at a nearby bakery store for a snack or juice. You talk about everything that happened during the day with them. Then you come home and rush to the TV because your favorite show is on. Of course, dinner is ready on time or maybe your parents decided to go to your favorite restaurant. Then you fall asleep like a light bulb with a full stomach and wake up the next day. 

Life was simple, back then. You had a proper sleep schedule. You had family trips, school days, independence day celebrations, faking sick leaves, meeting your cousins during the summer holidays and so on. All you had to worry about are homeworks, exams and remembering to bring record books and geometry cases. We all have been there.

Fast Forward to now, and things have obviously changed. Most of you reading this, have moved out of the places you grew up for work or education. You have to pay to keep the roof above you. You have to plan what you have to eat every day. It is entirely up to you to decide how delicious and healthy you have to have them. You can’t afford to keep dining out cause you have so many bills to pay once the salary hits your account.

You don’t have as many friends as you used to and for some reason it is hard to make new ones now. Even the friends you have are difficult to make plans with cause they got their own life going on. So, you are spending a lot of time by yourself and doing most of the household chores by yourself. The fact that nothing interesting happens, for the most part, doesn't help either. It is the same day again and again in a never-ending loop. You are better off hoping the day to end so that you can sleep and wake up to do it all over again.

You might even start to see some health issues beginning to haunt you for the rest of your life. You are getting dark circles under your eyes, skin is not looking as healthy as it used to. You notice your hairline receding gradually. Don't get me started on back pains. In the end all you can do is look at your old photos and say to yourself “Wow, I changed a lot” 

Above all that, the worst part at this point in life is you go through a lot on your own. People you trusted dearly slowly start to fade away. You get your heart broken a couple of times. There are days where you struggle to make ends meet financially. Some misunderstandings lead to bigger conflict and eventually losing friendships and families. All the childhood dreams seem to make no sense or are just too far away or too late to chase them now. Society’s expectations loom over your shoulder at all times. You get cheated on and betrayed by the people you love. And sometimes, you lose a loved one forever and that gives you a different kind of pain altogether. It is easy to come out and say “I wanna go back! I miss those good old days!”

But I don’t think the kid who got served three times a day can pick themselves up, after even one of these hits. But you can and you do, everyday. These tough times teach the hardest lessons and the hardest lessons inherit growth. And Growth is always a good thing. No matter what, you remained afloat and kept pushing forward. So hang in there, you already got this and you are not alone. Who knows? Maybe in 30 years,  we’ll look back to this day and say “ I miss those good old days!” or maybe all days are good - the Old, the Now and the New. Every single thing that has happened to you or will happen to you , be it suffering or happiness, exists soley to make you more of who you are meant to be. Sure, there is pain and suffering sprinkled throughout. But still on the whole, I think it is a beautiful life.

This is dedicated to everyone who went out in the world to carve out a small corner for themselves. 

And as always, thanks for reading. ❤️