Youth

Youth. What I miss most about my youth isn’t my hairline or my smooth taut skin. What I miss most about my youth isn’t the fact that I could eat junk food and party regularly without any noticeable physical consequences. What I miss most about my youth isn’t even my strength and vitality. What I miss most about my youth is not knowing and fully understanding what can and will eventually go wrong. What I miss most about my youth is the feeling of being an exception to the rules of eventual misfortune. What I miss most about my youth is still believing that bad things only happen to other people. What I miss most about my youth is the fearlessness. We can only fear what we know. A smoker isn’t afraid of getting cancer until he knows cancer. And I wasn’t afraid of hitting my head until I knew how much a seemingly mild concussion could affect every single thing in one’s life. It seems so backwards. The test teaching the lesson. Ignorance is bliss. Maybe the meaning of this proverb isn’t simply about innocence and not knowing? Maybe the meaning of this proverb is more about the wisdom and understanding that can only come with age? Maybe the meaning of this proverb is more about the fact that true bliss can only come from the heart and not from the mind? Maybe the most meaningful proverbs take an entire lifetime to understand? Maybe? Youth.