I remember as a clueless 5-year-old I couldn’t wait to be a grown-up 16-year-old.

And now I’m 16 and I wished my 5-year-old self would have slowed down and taken it all in.

Time flies. As cliche as it sounds — it does. I wish I wouldn’t have spent lost time in my youth wishing and waiting for things that would eventually come when I was ready for them. I think that’s something we do too often — we hope for things too much for the future that we forget about the present.

And now, instead of being able to go to recess, get lost in a daydream and go to playdates, I’m hours into homework and barely have time to relax on the weekends — all because I wished to grow up too soon.

It’s almost a sense of nostalgia. I miss my childhood. I miss being curious about the little things. I miss when I lost track of time because I had so much fun doing whatever I was doing and exploring the unfamiliar.

I never thought I would be writing these words, but I feel like I took sometimes in my childhood for granted and completely forgot to soak up the experience. But what would a child know about truly enjoying a moment? Nothing, at all.

So learn from me — enjoy every moment. Every. Single. One.

Don’t waste your time wishing for the next thing because then you will continue on hoping for the next thing, and the next thing, until the only thing you do is live your life just trying to make it through this day, this week, or this month, until years have flown by right before your very eyes.

Make the most of your time. Tell people you love them, learn to say yes…and no. Eat the big slice of cake and listen to that voice inside your head telling you to slow down because you’ll look back on all of the memories you made and smile, even when the wave of nostalgia washes back over you.