I hope...

I hope that I never shake this feeling.

I hope that I will always feel somewhat adolescent; childlike.

I hope that I will forever hold a sense of curiosity, of wonder and a wild abandon of growing up.

I hope that when I look out across an ocean or a mountain landscape, my breath will forever be stolen from my lungs by the immensity of this world.

I hope that there never comes a day when I feel too old to swing,

 or too busy to step back and relish in the uncertainty of it all.

I hope that despite the recklessness of my actions, I never regret a thing, for regret only blinds us from the lessons to be learned from living freely.

I hope that when I do climb mountains,

when I reach the top,

I will still be the same girl that took the first step upwards;

The same girl that realizes, having climbed higher than ever before,

there are always other obstacles to wrestle.

I hope that I never forget that wrestling is also playing;

that work can also be fun.

I hope I never settle for a life of solitary, melancholy routine.

I will not forget that strangers are just one introduction away from becoming new friends.

I hope I never pass up an opportunity to explore; a place, a person or a feeling.

I hope I never shake this unyielding appetite for life.