Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem -- seize the day.

What more can you say, right?  Well, actually a lot.  Live every day as if it were your last and then some day you'll be right.  ~H.H. "Breaker" Morant   Every man dies.  Not every man really lives.  ~Braveheart  Dream as if you'll live forever.  Live as if you'll die today.  ~James Dean  Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.  ~Stephen Vincent Benét  And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years.  ~Abraham Lincoln  Never forget that you must die; that death will come sooner than you expect... God has written the letters of death upon your hands.  In the inside of your hands you will see the letters M.M.  It means "Memento Mori" - remember you must die.  ~J. Furniss, Tracts for Spiritual Reading  Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.  ~John Henry Cardinal Newman  Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank.  ~Ben Irwin  Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending.  ~Author Unknown  


Why did I post all these quotes?  Because they're just damn good that's why!  But seriously, how much time do we truly waste worrying about work, chores, problems, etc or are always in a rush to somewhere, instead of living each day as if it were our last or someone elses?  We try to cram so much into each hour, day, week, month, year; that we forget what living is really all about.  I want to share a poem with you by Linda Ellis (Copyright 1996).  It has passed through my email box several times of the years, but is certainly worth every day:

The Dashcopyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live…and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So…when your eulogy is being read,
with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?

~Linda Ellis
Copyright 1996

All I really need to say here is, don't let life pass you by.  Don't dismiss loved ones or friends and just expect them to be here tomorrow.  Never go to bed angry at your spouse or significant other, or your children.  Love like you've never been loved and give of your heart freely.  You have nothing lose yet everything to gain.

Tonight I have friends mourning loved ones.  Our nation is mourning the loss of Caylee Marie Anthony.  And families I don't know are mourning the loss of their sons and daughters to war.  Please.............live, give, love unconditionally.  It's not that hard.  And if it is hard, it's totally worth it.