Carpe Diem: Make Your Day Count

What does carpe diem mean?

Long back the roman pet Horace coined the term Carpe diem which means to pluck the day. In general translation, it means to seize the day by using the power of the present moment leaving a little trust in future. Here, he didn’t mean to ignore the future but to be aware of its unpredictable nature.

“It’s what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future.” Paulo Coelho

Serving as a reminder, Carpe diem makes us aware of how a present well lived has the ability to rectify the past and also prepare a roadmap for a future.

Also Read: Starting with a purpose: What it can do for you?

The self-defeating habits of procrastination, fear, and doubt rob us of the precious moments which makes up our lives. These habits either make us think too long or not trying at all.

We tend to lose these precious moments only to realize later that we lost days and then the whole life.

So the true victory starts by capturing these moments and utilizing them to the fullest.

If we only start realizing and capturing these fleeting moments we can start taking charge of our life-Carpe punctum

When you reach a point whereby you master the art of utilizing each moment, you start seizing the day- Carpe diem.

Following the carpe diem, day by day, we soon start seizing the life- Carpe vita.

Act first and think later

Our most common habit is to put off our goals to some point in future. As we very well know, that point of time never occurs. Even if it occurs, our mind tricks us into believing that we have put up a lot of effort (because we have applied a lot of our mental faculties in the planning stage).

Related: Here is a method that helps achieve goals faster

Yes, every task requires proper planning before execution

But after a certain threshold, it can backfire and be counterproductive.

Act first and think later (though discretion is required in certain cases) can be rewarding in such scenarios. It’s better to improvise than keeping time as stagnant.

“Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” Echkart Tolle

So long you have lived by planning and acting. What happens? Approximately we act only 20 % and think 80% of the time- a huge loss of our capabilities. Here, I am not talking only about work but also about the life for which we work.

Make your new motto to seize the opportunity first and improvise later. Carpe punctum can then serve as a building block for your extraordinary life. Why not jump onto this moment and make it perfect. Yes, we may not get success always but at least we can plant the seeds in the NOW.