Carpe Diem—What does “Seize the Day” really mean

A continuation of my thoughts from a journal entry dated August 11, 2000. 

“Henry David Thoreau said something about in the moment before death, he didn’t want to realize that he had not lived… And so often, I think that what is meant by really living is that I must be daring every minute of my life.  I must live outrageously… and as much as I want to live to the extreme, spread my wings and inhale every bit of life that I can, I want to have roots.  Stand firmly upon my solid rock of sacred ground.

It always seems strange to me, the people who are genuinely happy every day take pride in the little tedious things that most people do just to get on with their lives. Doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, happy people seem to keep it simple, let these things give their lives roots and balance.  And I think about people who’ve been crippled.  It’s watching people do the simple things that they wish they could still do… Putting on a pair of pants by themselves, making their own dinner…

As many times as I tell myself to go for it, to LIVE… I already know how to do that.  I already know how to be daring and bold.  The question is when the time comes for me to stand firm, will I mistake it for a time to run?  And when the time comes fro me to bite my tongue, will I be bold and speak my mind?

Or will I know?  Will I stay standing on my winding tightrope upon which I must walk and leap, dance and run?  My tightrope which moves in all directions at once.  My balancing act, which sometimes includes working without a net—and even a long hard fall every once in a while…”

I wrote that 11 years ago, and still I struggle with three parts of this:

1.    

   Appreciating the little things.  Seizing the day by keeping my perspective as it  be… or adjusting my perspective to what it should be.  Keeping up with the maintenance of life stuff with the right focus.  

2.      Balance.  Oprah’s favorite word.  Maybe not worth the extent of the press it has gotten in recent times, but still needs mentioning.

3.      The fact that a long hard fall is not necessarily a bad thing.  A mistake is a not necessarily a bad thing.  A Bad Thing is not necessarily a bad thing.  It can really be something David Langford calls a “probletunity.”  The hard part about that is that mistakes, problems, and crappy situations suck.  And this goes back to the first part.  Perspective.  And really, maybe the only way to gain proper perspective is to keep in mind one of my favorite lines from the movie Rudy, “There is a God, and I’m not Him.”

Coming back to my question in the first place, what does “seize the day” really mean?  Does it mean live outrageously?  Do the little things well?  Do the work of “maintaining” with proper perspective?  Find a balance?  Capitalize on probletunities?

And I think, the answer is YES.