It’s okay to stop and smell the roses

Destiny+Bryant

Destiny Bryant

Destiny Bryant, Entertainment Editor

The majority of focus in this generation is being placed upon spending childhoods and teenage years preparing for the rest of students lives. Very little time is being devoted to doing simple things that tend to make one happy, like for instance, reading a book just for the enjoyment of reading and being part of an excursion into an entirely new world that book offers or going on a picnic instead of always going out for lunch and dinner. Whatever happened to last minute breakfast dates, anyways?

According to Brookings.edu, the amount of people who drive places rather than ride a bike or walk has increased drastically. Do people even still dance in the rain? I cannot recall the last time I talked to someone who writes, just for fun. Someone who isn’t writing for a purpose, but rather an outlet, a way to escape into the world of their own thoughts without being paid or to meet a deadline.

Maybe I was born in the wrong century, or maybe in the wrong place, but I, myself, have only been hiking one time. When people want to hang out, we usually end up at a mall of some sort to go shopping or get our eyebrows done. Never to visit an old cemetary, like maybe one that gives a view of the rest of the city, (Crown hill cemetery for example). While it may sound a little creepy at first, it’s beyond beautiful scenery makes for a great adventure and is a resting place to some rather interesting figures, according to VisitIndy.com.

According to Statista.com, an average women spends 16.38 hours of their day sleeping, and working or attending school. This leaves roughly 8 hours to do other things, such as after school activities, things around their house like chores, eating and they can not overlook the hours spent on homework. That being said there is not very much time at all for doing things simply because they bring joy to one.

With the majority of the day being spent straining the body, there should always, always be time devoted to unwinding from the day and doing something you enjoy in order to calm the body and the mind before trying to rest up and prepare for the next day. According to, livestrong.com, leisure time is important in bettering the quality of health. Without it, our bodies are under a continuous strain, which can be a danger to physical and mental health.

Rather than stressing about what needs done in the free time we are granted, we need to set aside time in order to enjoy the things that are important to us, to not only better our current health, but to better the overall quality of life. Besides, why not stop to smell the roses? Rather than just picking up a phone or going to the mall, go on a hike, or dance in the rain, pick some flowers, maybe even ride a bike somewhere in place of driving. Call someone up and go on a breakfast date.

    We are only granted so much time in life, not all of it should be focused on work or school or doing things that come routinely. A large majority of it should be spent doing things you genuinely enjoy. Not only does this increase the quality of life, it betters health, mentally and physically. Which, in itself, will probably make society a lot more bearable.