30 on ... Staying Gold

"Nature's first green is gold, 

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower, 

But only so an hour. 

So leaf subsides to leaf, 

So Eden sank to grief.

As dawn goes down today,

Nothing Gold can stay." 

                         -Robert Frost

Anyone who truly knows me also knows that my all time favorite movie is "The Outsiders". This is not solely based on my life-long crush on Ralph Macchio I swear; I also love the book. One of the secondary themes in the story is "staying gold", which is first brought up by the above poem. Frost is basically saying when something is new (like the first green of spring) it's pure, precious, and innocent (like gold). But inevitably time surges on, things age and change and loose their luster. It's eloquently written and has a lot of truth to it, but is also somewhat depressing. 

It is inevitable that time marches on and we grow and change, often becoming jaded. We forget too quickly the innocence, the carefree nature of our youth. Life gets in the way, and all too often we get caught up in going through the motions to really appreciate the experiences we are having. It's easy to take ourselves too seriously. However, I believe we have some choice in Staying Gold. It's a conscious choice we have to make, and, like anything, some days are easier than others.

Here's my advice on Staying Gold. Maintain a sense of wonder and curiosity. As we age our bank of knowledge naturally grows, but if we stop asking questions life becomes dull. Staying gold means to sometimes take time to just be in the moment that's happening; don't always stress about what's scoming next. Allow yourself to be silly. Always have a dream; keep ambition in your heart to do something more. Never settle!! Once you've reached a goal, take time to celebrate the accomplishment, then set a new goal. Keep dreaming of things you want to do and actively work towards doing them. Even if you don't accomplish all of the things you want to do, the process of trying will be fulfilling enough to help keep your heart young and happy. Remember times of joy and happiness. And above all else, know that you are never defined by the sum of circumstances. Sometimes things just suck. And often we don't have a lot of control over those things. We always have control, however, to not allow those things to determine who we are or limit what we can do in life.

In the last verse of the theme song for the movie, Stevie Wonder sings "life is but the twinkling of an eye...". Don't let the twinkle fade out, and leave you sorrowful and dull. Stay Gold.

What does "stay gold" mean to you?