With the results of the recent election, many United States citizens have been stressed and feeling under the weather. However, we must always remember that we cannot change what has already been done. I know that the president will hold office for four years and that it will affect us in many ways. I know that there are people rioting against Donald Trump, and I don't mean that they necessarily need to stop; I am saying that the results of the election have already been released, and we cannot undo what has already happened. For all of you who have been feeling sub-par for whatever reason at all, here is a little memento about life that might bring a smile to your face for just a few blissful moments.

In the 8th grade, I had a teacher named Mr. White who would always share his wisdom with us through long lectures about life. Keep in mind, the school I went to wasn’t nearly as competitive as the schools in Johns Creek. Many of the students were unmotivated and had already accepted that they would have unfruitful futures. One of the things Mr. White always told us was that the reason we must continue to aim for success is that the sun will always rise on the next day, and the world doesn't stop for anyone.

This brought me a particularly great amount of comfort, because although it is daunting to think that the world will never wait for you, it's nice to know that throughout all of the earthly struggles we may go through, the sun will always rise again and we will always have a fresh day ahead of us. In our ignorance and youth some of us may believe that we are truly something great even if we don’t make any contributions to society or live for a purpose greater than self-gratification and foolish pride. However, as he told us, life goes on. The cycle will never stop, so the sooner we accept that we can’t control some of the set things of this Earth, the sooner we can begin our endeavors on building ourselves to be respectable individuals with purposeful, productive lives.

For me, the sunrise is one of the most humbling things in our world. The gargantuan sun rises from the horizon of the east coast every morning, and therefore every single living inhabitant of this earth is given a new day with a blank slate. Of course the struggles of yesterday may still hurt our hearts, but they cannot fully swallow us lest we allow them to, because time has freed us from our pasts. We no longer dwell in the preceding hour, we dwell in the present one. The only thing that we are capable of doing is right here, and right now. We are given the power to shape our lives in whichever ways we desire, as long as we’ve got the guts to strive for it.