Carpe Diem

Good Morning! A friend of mine (Dr. Dave Demchuk) sent me the following thoughts:

Holidays are a wonderful time to reflect and regroup. One of the things that has been on my mind during this holiday concerns how I use the present. Let me elaborate where I’m going with a quote by Ken Blanchard:

“To learn from the past is good – to live in it is a waste. To plan for the future is good – to live in it is a waste. You are happiest and most productive in life when you are living in the present.”

It seems to me that we face a couple of negative extremes when it comes to our perspective on time. Some of us tend to live with our gaze to the past, lamenting that the good days are behind us. Others of us living so totally focused on the future that we fail to learn from the lessons of the past, or enjoy the blessings of today. Living at either end of the time continuum yields the same result – we forget to live in the “today” of our lives.

So does that mean to live fully in the present is to ignore the past and the future? Not at all! Living fully in the present involves being informed and shaped by the past – its experiences, lessons, and pitfalls. It’s a sad thing when leaders ignore their past, only to keep on repeating it. Living fully in the present also involves being pulled forward towards the future – the only real way to ensure that a far-off hill in conquered is to begin to take steps towards it today. But we only really have today, and we need to learn to squeeze every bit of value out of every day, whether it’s at work, with our family or with our friends. We can do that through working hard and smart, but also through those moments when we take uninterrupted time for our family or friends.

The ancients captured the need to live fully in each day with the phrase “Carpe Diem”, which means “seize the day”. The word carpe literally means “to pluck” and paints a bit of a picture of one taking the best from each day, in a way an individual would pick flowers.” The phrase finds its source in the writings of the Latin poet Horace” “Scale back your long hopes to a short period. While we speak, time is envious and is running away from us. Seize the day, trusting little in the future….”

Jesus calls us to live fully in each day we have been given, reminding us that our heavenly Father “will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” (Matt. 6:33). So seize the day – today.
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Have a great day,

Paul