This week, I got an Apple Display monitor—a sleek masterpiece with a vibrant screen and stellar audio. It’s everything I could want in a device, yet when it arrived, my excitement was… muted. No eager anticipation, no thrill tearing into the box. I even let it sit unopened while I wasted a day on trivial tasks.

As a teenager, this would’ve been a moment. I’d have tracked the courier’s every move, counted down the seconds, and turned the unboxing into a celebration. That spark of wonder, that rush of joy… where did it go?

Nostalgia hits hard here. It’s not just about the monitor; it’s about how time dulls the magic of new things. Back then, as a student, every new device felt like a ticket to adventure, but now, with a job and the ability to afford what I want, it’s just another delivery, highlighting the obviousness of my changing circumstances.

Teenage Luigi would’ve been blown away by this—working remotely, in English, on an open-source project. It felt impossible back then.

While talking with a friend, I said: I should be excited—because my teenage self would be.

So here’s a little reminder:

Be excited for where you are.

Not because it’s perfect, but because the teenager you would be amazed.