The moment I’ve been waiting for finally came. Last night, I attended my first seminary class ever, and it was awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve daydreamed about being in the classroom spending all my time studying theology and God’s word. And now, it’s here. My dream has become a reality. I couldn’t be more excited.

I think there are a lot of pitfalls that a person can fall into when waiting for something that’s very exciting, and there are others that one can fall into once that exciting something comes. I’m trying to avoid these. Here are few things I’m trying to keep in mind as I’m transitioning into this exciting new phase of life.

Realistic expectations are key.

When you’re excited about something, it’s natural to spend a good deal of time thinking about it. Whether it’s a new product you’re buying, a new job, or (in my case) a new school, we spend a lot of time thinking about exciting things that are coming our way. And that’s perfectly fine, but a problem arises when we let our pictures of those things get out of hand.

If I came to seminary expecting to learn everything and have my life changed in one day, I would be disappointed. Or if I expected to be really, really good at it right off the bat, I’d probably fall short of my expectations. It’s OK to get excited about things we’re expecting and even to spend time thinking about what they’ll be like, but we have to keep in mind that we can’t fully understand what something will be like until we experience it, and letting our expectations get out of control can actually ruin the experience when the reality doesn’t live up to it.

Let yourself get excited.

The fact that something excites you means you care about it, and that’s meaningful. Some people are scared to let themselves get excited or attached to something because they’re afraid of being let down or rejected. I know I’ve been there before. But we can’t give in to that. We’re meant to enjoy the good things of this life, and we can’t let insecurity get in the way of that.

Get excited. Be proud of your accomplishments. Enjoy each moment. Don’t be afraid to live life to the fullest because we only get one.

This won’t last forever.

As cool as seminary is, and as long as three-to-four years sounds right now, I know that this experience is going to end in the blink of an eye. I think back on college, and I can’t believe that it was four years ago that I was starting my freshman year. That’s just crazy to me. And I know I’ll think of seminary the same way when I finish it. These next few years are going to fly by, and I want to make the most of them.

We tend to think that whatever life situation we’re in at the moment is the one we’re going to be in forever. So when we get something new or experience something new, we think it’s going to stay that way. But that’s not the case. Nothing in this world lasts forever, and we need to keep that in mind from the get-go. Our lives go in phases, and we need to enjoy the one we’re in as much as possible, because it’ll be gone before we know it.

Thank you guys for checking out my little list. These are some things that have been on my mind lately, and I thought I would share them with you. I hope this helps others who are in situations like mine, and I hope you’re all doing well. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you guys next time!