Carpe Diem – Seize YOUR Day
If you are anything like most of us, how many times in your life or throughout an individual day have you thought about something that is outside of your control? I know that is a common thought for me, or at least it used to be. When something would happen to me, I would often think “why me?”, “why right now?”, or even as simple as “here we go again...”. Thoughts like these would constantly circulate through my head and I would easily become overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness or complacency, and this was even when things were good! With years of martial arts practice and positive thinking, I would often envision the things that happened in my life, especially in my day to day, as destined or pre-planned and there wasn’t much I could do about it but accept it. I would just have to sit back and take the proverbial punches and try to make the most of them. I viewed most things as a product of the past and present that simply lead to some preconceived or fated future. After all, wasn’t this what living a happy, stress free life was all about – accepting what happens and making the best of it? Come to find out that was only a small part of it.
For thousands of years, literally, the Latin phrase “carpe diem” has been explored and expressed in many forms of literature and media. Perhaps most commonly known from the 1989 beloved Robin Williams classic, Dead Poets Society, carpe diem means to seize the day. Generally, this is thought to mean that we should make the most of the present and “seize” what we want to achieve. Let’s dig deeper and briefly take a look at the origin of this phrase. Originally written by Roman poet Horace, carpe diem is actually only part of the entire phrase “carpe diem quam minimum credula postero”. This translates to “pluck [seize] the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one”. Wait a minute, this to me is a pretty crucial last part. What this tells us is to live in the moment, taking advantage of what we can, without concern for the future. So, all those times I accepted the present circumstances, gave my best effort, and yet succumbed to whatever the future was to hold was wrong? After taking a step back and further examining how to better apply this principle of carpe diem to my life and the lives of my clients, I am enlightened to its true meaning and how you can carry it into your own life.
To fully seize your day isn’t strictly a mindset on how to live, nor is it a call to action on some secret success. Seizing your day starts with the day itself and living strictly in the present throughout it. Take each and every moment to put your best self forward and make the most of the time provided to you in that moment. I have always told my clients that there are only two things in life we can control: our ATTITUDE and our EFFORT. Everything else is a mixing pot of actions and circumstances that stem from our environment and our subsequent role in it. Seize YOUR day by controlling your attitude and your effort, nothing else. Focus on the moment. Release yourself from to weight of the past and the constraints of the future. As the US Army recruiting department once said, BE ALL YOU CAN BE- mentally and physically. For example, if you wake up and worry about how busy the day or week will be, you have already taken yourself out of the moment and placed your focus on the future and therefore out of your control. Instead, focus on the first task of that day and attack it head on. Once completed, move on the next and so forth. Do not try to multitask as multitasking leads to a decrease in both attitude and effort of a single task. You will be more productive devoting 100% of your attitude and your effort to a single task and sequentially moving through your to-do’s. “Don’t steal from Peter to pay Paul” as they say; instead, give each task equal and full attention.
This notion of carpe diem is not about making any one, isolated day be the best and having that day fit in to some grand puzzle we are building. Seizing YOUR day is about making YOUR impact throughout each and every day and ultimately designing the puzzle of YOUR life. It is your day, your impact, your life. It is YOU vs YOU. Wake up each morning and go to bed each night with the sole purpose of maximizing your attitude and effort to achieve what matters most to you. Do not dwell on the past or focus on the future, rather live in the moment and seize every ounce of the opportunities we are provided.
“Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys [and girls]. Make your lives extraordinary.”