Recently, one of my inspirations, Stuart Scott, lost a battle with cancer. Scott, a game-changing SportsCenter anchor, broke the norms of reporting through his unconventional dialect about sports while inspiring many through his story relating to his fight against cancer.

But while changing sports in his own way, his largest contribution to the world was his ideology: Live in the present.

Throughout his battle with cancer, Scott refused to accept defeat, stating his desire to live each day as if it were his last.

Taking Scott’s teachings in mind, we must implement them into our own lives.

With the stress high school presents in the form of Advanced Placement (AP) tests, extracurricular activities, athletics and the college process as a whole, students can get lost thinking about the future, or even the past in some cases, making it hard to understand what is happening in the present.

Recently, in Health class, we were discussing mindfulness and its impact on daily life. What struck me was the simplicity: Being able to take a step away from the buzzing life of a teenager and just focus on oneself for two minutes can be beneficial.

Mindfulness, can be defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment.”

Easing yourself out of the stresses of school and personal life for just a short period of time allows you to take yourself out of your daily stresses, enabling a more focused, concentrated mindset moving forward in the day.

Those two minutes I took to just plug out thoughts about upcoming commitments or assignments led me to understand the importance of stepping out of High School and into your own bubble.

Having had no previous experience with any such activity prior to that day, I found that it was not only a new feeling, but a newfound sense of concentration that set the tone for the rest of the day.

For everyone attending the school, our future is always trying to be shaped. However, it is important to take that short period of time in a day to just realize what is actually happening in the world around you rather than focus on what is coming up. That is what will allow you to get through High School.

After all, there is no point living for the future if you can’t enjoy the present.