Today was a Carpe Diem kind of day. For anyone who doesn't know what that means, check out the movie "Dead Poets Society." An unconventional teacher in a private school challenges his students with the phrase carpe diem ... seize the day!
(Carpe diem, (Latin: “pluck the day” or “seize the day”) phrase used by the Roman poet Horaceto express the idea that one should enjoy life while one can.)
The weather, which only two days ago had been a combination of rain and sleet, had decided that today it would not only be spring, but a glorious spring day at that. The birds started singing their hearts out before sunrise. While the day started out on the chilly side, by 11 a.m the sun was shinning and folks were shedding their coats when they stepped outside - 60 degrees! Sure, I know that it's upstate New York and by tomorrow we could be scrapping frost off the windshields of our cars, but right now, today, at this moment, it was a carpe diem kind of day for sure.
Leaving early and taking my time walking to church this morning, I was taking it all in with every fiber of my being ... until some crazy woman almost ran me down careening around a corner like, as my mother used to say, a bat out of hell. There for just a few moments my good mood vanished and I felt my button being pushed. The desire to yell out something unpleasant was halfway out of my mouth before I caught myself and pulled it back in. I knew that once it was out there, the rest of my walk, and my morning, and my day for that matter, were no longer mine to control. I would have given it over to the anger and frustration brought on by the lack of consideration of someone I didn't even know. Talk about giving your power away!
We are so conditioned by the world to lash out at some person or situation that has shattered our peace and tranquility. For all I know that woman could have just received some bad news and was rushing to someones bedside. Maybe she was late for work. Or, maybe someone had stolen her own tranquility and she was lashing out the only way she knew how. While I certainly don't condone her behavior - someone could have gotten seriously hurt - fuming and yelling on my part certainly wasn't going to make things better. If anything, I would be robbing myself of my good mood by buying into it. So I turned my face to the sun, took in a deep breath, and said: "Carpe Diem Anyway! "
If I didn't learn anything else from all of the years of studying the works of people like Louise Hay and Wayne Dyer, it was that all of our power rests in this present, sacred moment. What we decide to do with it determines how the next moment will unfold, and the next, and the next. We don't need any one's permission to choose to have a good day, and we certainly don't have to give our power over to anyone else just because theirs isn't going well.
As for the rest of my day, the church service was wonderful, my church family were their usual loving, hugging, cheerful selves, and the walk home after the service was slow, sweet, and filled with sunshine. And, just in case there was someone out there who might try to rob me of my beautiful day again, I was ready for them. In fact, I might just have this put on a T-shirt:
CARPE DIEM ANYWAY!
And so it is!
