Carpe Deim. Are you sure?
Seize the day. Enjoy the moment. Today is all we have for sure.
Such are some of the slogans that have been associated with the Latin phrase so many of us know. Many people claim it as a mantra or as a way they want to live their life. And yet I think we run from it as fast as we can many times.
For many, the phrase is twisted into an excuse for a self-indulgent existence that fails to deal with many basic human conditions. I say this, because I lived it. It was My Right to do what I wanted everyday. If that meant I was high or juiced or rude, well, that was just the way it was. I did not believe I would see 25 and so I lived a self-fulfilling prophecy trying to make it come true. "Carpe Diem" - it's my life and I will live it the way I want. Funny thing about that time. As high as I was, as high as Mr. Natural and I could climb, it wasn't that fun. Oh, I laughed alot. I made others laugh at me and with me, sometimes on purpose. I had a BLAST. But I didn't find it really satisfying to my inner self. There wsa no intimacy for me, no deep human connection, nothing spiritual. If I met my friends from back then today, we could easily sit down and start drinking or smoking, almost back where we were. Fortunately, I have seen several over the years and we don't try to tear it up like before, but we share our wonderment at how life worked out and how we have more than we imagined we would ever have. Families, places to live, reasonably good jobs, health (this is amazing!). We have found a depth to our lives that was unknown before.
For others, the phrase allows them to live with no thought of their future, both physical or spiritual. They only believe in what they can grasp, with their hands or their minds. Anything that is out of reach is going to stay out of reach, for the exercise and conditioning needed to expand their reach isn't addressed or undertaken. The girl of my dreams? A better job? College? A million reasons why not. Why make the effort if I could be dead tomorrow? I relate to this one too. I mean, I am a reasonably intelligent man who is happy to be a glorified shipping clerk at the moment.
Since tomorrow isn't promised, and you never know what could happen, I see people continue to shove things into the emotional/pyschological/spiritual attics of their lives, hoping they will be forgotten. Cloudy dreams unreal. I know, because I do it too. Avoidance is one of my more prominent personality traits. Why ruin a good day with things unpleasant?
So. Carpe diem. Are you willing to seize today? Live today like you never have lived before and never will again? What if your life was like a mosquito and you had 24 hours? Who would you let know you loved them? That they had a special place in your life? Would you bow your head and thank God for at least giving you this little bit of physical life and a spirit that touched others and was touched by others for eternity? Is gratitude something you taste everyday?
Carpe diem. What is the tune of your heartsong?
Such are some of the slogans that have been associated with the Latin phrase so many of us know. Many people claim it as a mantra or as a way they want to live their life. And yet I think we run from it as fast as we can many times.
For many, the phrase is twisted into an excuse for a self-indulgent existence that fails to deal with many basic human conditions. I say this, because I lived it. It was My Right to do what I wanted everyday. If that meant I was high or juiced or rude, well, that was just the way it was. I did not believe I would see 25 and so I lived a self-fulfilling prophecy trying to make it come true. "Carpe Diem" - it's my life and I will live it the way I want. Funny thing about that time. As high as I was, as high as Mr. Natural and I could climb, it wasn't that fun. Oh, I laughed alot. I made others laugh at me and with me, sometimes on purpose. I had a BLAST. But I didn't find it really satisfying to my inner self. There wsa no intimacy for me, no deep human connection, nothing spiritual. If I met my friends from back then today, we could easily sit down and start drinking or smoking, almost back where we were. Fortunately, I have seen several over the years and we don't try to tear it up like before, but we share our wonderment at how life worked out and how we have more than we imagined we would ever have. Families, places to live, reasonably good jobs, health (this is amazing!). We have found a depth to our lives that was unknown before.
For others, the phrase allows them to live with no thought of their future, both physical or spiritual. They only believe in what they can grasp, with their hands or their minds. Anything that is out of reach is going to stay out of reach, for the exercise and conditioning needed to expand their reach isn't addressed or undertaken. The girl of my dreams? A better job? College? A million reasons why not. Why make the effort if I could be dead tomorrow? I relate to this one too. I mean, I am a reasonably intelligent man who is happy to be a glorified shipping clerk at the moment.
Since tomorrow isn't promised, and you never know what could happen, I see people continue to shove things into the emotional/pyschological/spiritual attics of their lives, hoping they will be forgotten. Cloudy dreams unreal. I know, because I do it too. Avoidance is one of my more prominent personality traits. Why ruin a good day with things unpleasant?
So. Carpe diem. Are you willing to seize today? Live today like you never have lived before and never will again? What if your life was like a mosquito and you had 24 hours? Who would you let know you loved them? That they had a special place in your life? Would you bow your head and thank God for at least giving you this little bit of physical life and a spirit that touched others and was touched by others for eternity? Is gratitude something you taste everyday?
Carpe diem. What is the tune of your heartsong?
posted by Kurt at 10:15 AM
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