Somewhere in my impressionable youth, there was a trend to use Latin words in secondary education
and I particularly grasped the Carpe Diem! “Seize the Day” as a personal
favorite.
A young friend recently had
the opportunity to study abroad in Europe and posted that she
was going to stay home and read instead of embarking on adventure. I immediately took her to task and told her “You
get a pass today. However, if you do not take
every opportunity while you are there to 'Carpe the Heck Out of the Diem!', we are
going to have some trouble.” From that
day forward, it became her personal mantra.
It’s now available in a t-shirt to fund another youngster’s adventure in
the big wide world. Hence, my whirligig of
the week…
Pardon the shameless self-promotion…
Can you imagine the inherent power of wearing such a shirt to the gym,
the grocery store or yes, even to church or the senior center. The spunky bit of attitude it would exhibit would
kick up your street cred a few notches.
But that’s a whole nother story entirely.
I want the kid to apply this attitude to his search for work… to his drive
to create memorable films… to his grocery shopping.. to his relationships… to
asking someone for the opportunity to work with them on their movie… to “Why
not do a Craigs List gig to afford my next big adventure?”
When does this attitude adjustment work? I can’t think of anywhere in which it would
NOT work.
One great example is Travel – one time you want to check all the boxes:
see, do, eat, experience and live to develop wonderful anecdotes.
Going to the gym – if not today, then when?
Starting a healthier habit or giving up an unhealthy one?
Need a new phrase for birthday cards?
Here ya go!
Interacting with kids – what better way to introduce Latin words than
in casual vernacular?
The few times in life I have Carpe’d the Diem have been those for which
I have absolutely no regrets. Travelling
to Australia solo – you bet! U2 tickets we had to hold on to for over a year?
Worth it! Indoor skydiving when someone dropped out – I’m in! The chance to Sand Board, Body Surf, Sea
Kayak, get up at 3am to witness a sunrise on the east coast of the Pacific
Ocean? All over it.
Impulsive much? Not by my primary
nature, but I’m learning to embrace it more easily.
An over-planner by nature.
The times when I have swung by the seat of my pants, given in to
impetuous decisions and done something adventurous on impulse have been some of
the few times I have had NO REGRETS whatsoever.
The best example of this was while travelling with my tour group in
Australia.
There was a change of plans due to a bus break down and we missed one
of our side activity opportunities. We
had the opportunity to substitute an impromptu trip to some local water falls
or a white water rafting trip on a local river.
I really wanted to do both, but needed to choose one since they occurred
at the same time. I figured the
waterfalls would be the fiscally and physically responsible thing to do since I
would have less chance of getting hurt.
The waterfalls were FABULOUS! And
something that very few tour groups ever make a priority to see. Milla Milla Falls in QLD. Check 'em out.
The rafters came back sunburned, wet, bruised and at one point the raft
had flipped which would have freaked me out beyond belief as I’m not a strong
swimmer. The impulsive decision to do
what was less exciting, cheaper and enable self-preservation proved not only to
be personally rewarding, but enabled me to seize an unusual opportunity. Even saw a wild cassowary that day – big like
an emu and as mean as a croc. (Photos courtesy of Google). Thankfully we encountered few other wild beasts
that day.
Carpe the Heck out of the Diem!
It’s not just for breakfast anymore. Could apply to almost any opportunity,
challenge or situation, and if you happen to decide to adopt it as your
personal mantra… I know where you can get THE T-SHIRT! The next shirt design and subsequent blog
post may be about having No Regrets!
No comments:
Post a Comment