As a child, you become excited over the smallest of things. When you wake up on Christmas morning, you rush downstairs and quickly open your presents, full of laughter and exciement. After pleading with your mom to please allow you to spend the night with a friend, she rolls her eyes and nods, and you jump up and down as if it's the best news to ever receive. In your mind, there are no worries, no deadlines to meet, no guy to impress, no pressure to be popular. Life is a fairytale.

Suddenly, you hit the teen years, which are filled with stress and pressure. Pressure to do things you don't want to do, pressure to be perfect, pressure to be popular, pressure to have a boyfriend. You don't even ask your mom if you can spend the night at a friend's house anymore, you just go. On Christmas morning, you slowly make your way downstairs, open your presents and then complain that you didn't get the ipod you had asked for. Playing outside isn't an option. You're constantly faced with things that you think you can't handle and life is a complete nightmare. You wish you were young again, happy in life. But you know it will never be that way again. Life goes on and we grow. Nothing can change that.

However, there are things to be happy about. College is coming, a time to find your purpose, to find yourself. After college will come the man of your dreams, who steals your heart and vows to love and cherish you forever! In his eyes you feel comfort and warmth and you know he's the one you'll love and adore until you die.

With that knowledge, you persue a life with this amazing person and hopefully down the road you'll produce children. Chrildren who rush downstairs on Christmas morning and anxiously open their presents, smiling as they go. You'll hear their sincere plea to spend the night at a friend's house and the sincere excitement when you roll your eyes and nod, just as your mother used to. You'll see them live happily without a care in the world. Through their teenage years, you'll be there to hold them when the cry because of all the pressures they're facing. You'll see them deal with these struggles and tell them that you've been there and that life is tough sometimes. They may feel hopeless, but you'll remind them that college is coming, and someday, a wonderful person to share their life with. You'll tell them that they can tell their children what they've learned and give them the same hope your mother gave you.

Your children will know that life is tough, childhood isn't, and that there is always hope for the future. The cycle can continue. The cycle of hope.