The First Thing to Ever Matter

In a treasure chest filled with nostalgia and memories, I'd search for the first thing that ever mattered to me.

I've never seen this treasure chest or even had the chance to look into it, but I know what I'm searching for is at the bottom.

I don't know how I know, but my life has been filled with delayed gratification and distractions. Anything that's ever had meaning to me has required me to give everything I had and then some. And I know that as I search through old clothing, letters, and poems and toss aside old friends I've forgotten to call, promises I forgot to keep, and the nightmares I've shoved away, it will be sitting right there at the bottom.

A stuffed Bugs Bunny toy. HA!

I used to sleep with it when I was a kid, and I refused to go to bed without it. I used to cherish that thing more than anything. When nothing else mattered, not money, dating, clothes, school, or social status, that toy mattered.

As I approach 30, nothing makes me happier than things that remind me of the meaning of life. And that is nothing matters unless you make it matter.