I’m Making A Vow, Here and Now.

Yesterday was possibly the best day I have had in months. A full day at Darien Lake with two of my best friends, with no lines, no waits, and tons of fun. I had a blast with Matt and Brad, and I went home thoroughly tired. But before I went home, before the laserlight show, I decided to go on the bumper cars ride with Matt. We walked over to the line, and it was only the two of us in line, but due to the rules Darien Lake has in place, the operator was forced to make everyone get off, and I did feel kind of bad for the people on the ride. I mean, it was just two of us, and there were plenty of cars open. But the operator had to follow the rules.

Anyway, when the operator made everyone get off, several drunk guys started swearing at him. They had been riding in the wrong direction, and this had led to a major traffic jam in the middle of the ring, with cars facing the wrong way trapped together. But instead of realizing that it was their fault, the guys started to swear at the guy because he wouldn’t let them move them by hand (it was against the rules of his job). They acted like complete assholes to him, and it was just ridiculous.

As I sat there in my car and tried to ignore the drunks abuse the operator, I couldn’t help but think about how they were ruining what a great day I’d had. Matt and I just looked at each other, and I could tell that they had put him in a bad mood as much as they had me. It was depressing to watch guys with BAC’s over .1 abuse a guy who was just trying to keep a job to support himself and whatever he had, and just destroyed my faith in humanity. I couldn’t help but feel depressed as I walked off the ride, because it was obvious that even when they were sober, these guys didn’t have an ounce of respect for people other than themselves.

But then, as Matt and I walked away, we started talking about what we had seen, and I as I talked, I couldn’t help but think about how I was letting human beings (if you could call them that) destroy the awesome day I had had. It made me sick to think that I could be so easily beaten down.

Then, after riding the Superman a final time, I walked over to the laserlight show, where, as I watched the dancing lights and felt the booming rhythm shake my body, I realized that my life was just too short to let that kind of thing happen to me. For Pete’s sake, I’m going to be a senior in less than a week, and I don’t have much time left with these people at all. I started to ask myself, “Do I really want to waste a single minute with them feeling sad or depressed?”.

I realized quickly that the answer was definitely no, and then and there, I made a vow. No matter how hard things got, no matter how down on my luck I was feeling, I could not let myself get so depressed that I wasn’t having any fun living. I swore to myself that I would make the most out of every second by taking chances and laughing and just plain LIVING. I promised myself that I would live for today, love yesterday, and hope for tomorrow as I danced through the night before.

As I walked away from the show, stumbling and laughing from exhaustion and just plain fun, I felt a little of that feeling that I had realized I so desperately wanted. I wasn’t worrying about what tomorrow would bring, I was relishing in the mystery and suspense of my future. I wasn’t dwelling on my regrets of yesterday, I was reliving the joys of my past. I wasn’t wasting time thinking about the past or the future, I was using every moment I had as a springboard to fly higher the next. I realized in that moment, that I have been blessed with the greatest gifts that any human can receive, and I have been blessed with the choice to use or to waste them.

So right here and now, I’m going to promise myself something. I swear, by my very being, that I will live for today, love yesterday, and hope for tomorrow, all while I dance through each day of my life like it were my last.