I am just going to be honest. I am not a morning person. I will probably never be one. So I even surprised myself when I found myself setting my alarm for 5:50 am to go see the sunrise on vacation. The alarm went off without fail each morning for the six days we spent at the beach. I dragged myself out of bed and groggily splashed water on my face to wipe away that tired look from my eyes. My phone said sunrise was at 6:24. The sky was dark, but to my surprise, it was already painted with faint shades of red and pink, like the work of an artist. I quickly ran out the door and made my way to the beach. There were about one or two others walking around, but besides that, it was just the sky, the waves, and me. I checked my phone. 6:20. I walked around idly, just waiting. It took a few extra minutes, but the darkness began to break. I saw the edge of the sun boldly peak above the horizon. It rose with such majesty, commanding the sky, clouds, birds, and everything else in its wake to pause for a moment and revel in its glory. The sky and its colors brought me such a sense of serenity I felt like I had to pinch myself to double check that I wasn’t dreaming. Then… it stopped. Just like that, the sky was no longer dark crimson and pink. It was yellow and blue and the day had begun before I knew it.

Maybe I just have a really bad memory, but the last time I watched a sunrise, it didn’t seem to happen so quickly. It really got me thinking about how much our own lives are like the sun that had so hastily risen before me. In the blink of an eye, night turns into day, the sun rises, the sun sets, and it rises again whether we like it or not. If I could make the beauty of the sunrise stretch into hours, I would do it. If I had a real-life rewind button to turn back the time to watch it over and over again, I would do it. If I could make everything pause in that moment and keep it in a bottle for me to have forever, I would do it. But I am an 18 year old girl. I am a human being, not a superhero. I am going to college in a month. I am starting a new chapter whether I like it or not. My world is changing. My sun is rising. The day is young now and I am young too, but I won’t be this way forever. At first, I, like so many of us, wanted to try to snatch the sun out of the sky for myself. I think we do this for a countless number of reasons: to make time stop, make ourselves younger, and redo a moment in our lives. We all have our reasons. But as I looked at the newly risen sun over my head, I was thankful for not only the new day, but also the new journey I was lucky enough to embark on. Time goes on and the sunrise fades, sure, but what more could I do but to accept it and the gift it brought to me-the gift of a new day? I think what we fail to realize sometimes is that while the sun rises quickly, it also rises every day. Yes, we have to wait in darkness or  get up early to witness it, but while it is fleeting, there are new sunrises in our lives each and every day to look forward to. All we have to do is get up a little early to appreciate them.