youth

We used to belong, to our small, simple world, our bubble 

That consisted of our worldly pleasures and pretentious problems- our interest for chocolates, fascination for crayons, animated cartoons and the burden of exams

A world, simple and pure, filled with innocence 

– When we were young

Now we’re bound in the traps of competence, responsibility, maturity

It’s good to have gotten something added into our world- the challenges

But did something necessarily have to be replaced?

– Our youth?

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“God, tell us the reason, youth is wasted on the young”

This line speaks volumes.

Do ‘youth’ and ‘young’ have to be mutually inclusive…?

Did we waste our youth on our younger selves?

Did we fail to appreciate the very essence of our childhood? To understand just how lucky we were?

Did we take the smallest things for granted?

Did we engage ourselves in immoderate procrastination, reassuring ourselves that we have a ‘tomorrow’ to seize our opportunities?

Remember the naivety of our desires whilst being oblivious that that was the best time of our life?

Remember the time when we all wanted to grow up to be adults?

For the silliest reasons possible- because adults had no exams?

(We all know we wished for that at some point)

And now, we want that time back.

Don’t we always yearn for something we don’t have?

Now, we’ve grown up.

We’re now dominantly calculative, rational, and logical rather than just carefree

More so, rooting for consequences rather than impulses.

The transformation is understandable.

But why did we lose the ‘life’ of us?- why did adulthood weigh down on our youth?

Why can’t we extend the validity of this youth?

The liveliness? Charm? Enthusiasm? Simplicity? Innocence?

Where we lived every moment, to the fullest.

Why can’t we get back to that time when things were just so simple.

Or maybe, just integrate it into our lives today?

Because

Is it necessary for maturity to engulf us? Encroach upon the child in us?

Is it necessary for us to ‘grow up’ as we age?

Is it necessary to rationalize every aspect of our lives?

Do age and seriousness have to be proportional?

Do we often lose ourselves to the complexities of life?

Don’t live your lives, as if you’re immortal.

Imbibe your mortality.

You will never be younger than you are today, so cherish every moment!

You are only young once, but your youth has no limit.