Carpe Diem

The energy that motivates us into action can often be building for quite some time. At some particular moment however, the energy shifts into high gear and we have an opportunity to seize the moment and act. Carpe Diem is a statement made famous from the movie, The Dead Poet's Society. It is translated from Latin as 'seize the day'. It is a profound statement of declaring the moment as the only one that counts and it's about taking a leap of faith. We only have one life to live, so what do we have to lose by seizing the moment. My sister seized the moment when she drove onto the lot of 20th Century Fox and started her career in casting. I even seized the moment when I wrote my first blog article. I had an intuitive moment, listened to my gut and followed through. When I was living in CA and my sister who was living in NYC said her roommate was moving out....I seized the moment and without much thought said, "I'll move to NYC and live with you." When my husband and I purchased our first home, intuition led me on a detour one morning to get coffee. On that detour, I came across the house we ended up buying. We put $5,000 down on that house, all the money we had at that time. My gut said to do it and I am so glad that we did. Thanks to the market value of that house increasing so significantly, it paid off all of my student loans and still made so much money in equity that we were able to buy a larger house. At Starbucks this morning, a guy walks in wearing shorts and we are in the middle of a snow storm! Guess he decided to seize the moment and behave as if it's 70 degrees out. Our reality is whatever we make it! I am trying to teach my kids about being in the moment and taking chances. Life can be pretty boring if you spend it playing it safe. Here are some fun quotes about Carpe Diem. "Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think"....(Chinese Proverb). "Live every day as if it were your last and then some day you'll be right"...(H.H. "Breaker" Morant). "Go for it now. The future is promised to no one"...(Wayne Dyer). "Every man dies. Not every man really lives"....(Braveheart). "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive"...(Elbert Hubbard). "As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do"...(Zachary Scott). What moments have you had in your life when you really seized the moment? What are your dreams, the ones that make you want to seize the moment? Would you seize the moment or talk yourself out of it? Just some important questions to ask yourself. I am going to seize the moment and head outside to have a snowball fight with my kids. Carpe Diem...seize the moment and make it happen. Trust life, trust your gut and follow your heart and leap into the unknown. We all know stories of people who play it safe. How many of our parents, friends and family do we all have that live life in a very predictable way, never taking chances. Many people talk themselves out of their dreams, their intuition and their heartfelt desires. They tell themselves that "It's crazy, it can never happen, or it would never work." Let the universe work out the logistics....if you think it, feel it then dream it, the universe will conspire to make it happen. Honor yourself to take the leap to seize the day. Life is full of opportunity, believe in yourself and the rest will work itself out. So "Carpe Diem" I say loudly as we soon head into the new year. Make 2010 the best year ever by finally being true to yourself in every way possible! "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever"....(Mahatma Gandhi).