Carpe Diem. Grippi il giorno. Ergreifen Sie den Tag. Agarrar dia. Seize the day. No matter what language it is spoken in it means the same thing; to find a way to make the most out of every moment in life. I find myself repeating these words in my head everyday. Seize the day. Take the day by force; it is not easily accomplished sitting in a school solving calculus problems all day, but I do what I can.
To seize by definition is to grasp suddenly and forcibly; to take or grab. While I find it difficult to make big dramatic moves in order to seize the day, I find the things that I can do to accomplish it in my own way.
I don’t work extra hard to get my adrenal glands pumping. I do not take an hour a day to base jump, or skydive, or bullfight. I do not race cars at 200 MPH. I will not stand at the edge. I do not push myself to an extreme point just to feel my limits in that moment. A single moment is but a glimmer of what the definition of life is. A day can be defined by moments, but a life is defined by days and weeks and months and years. I do not define myself by the thrills in each moment, but I find ways to seize the day, everyday. The big thrills in life are what we remember, but the small decisions are what define us in the end.
I will make the most of every task in life regardless of size or importance. Take this essay for instance. This is my fourth attempt. I have three others that were only practice essays for this one. The goal is to write an essay on what I believe; to narrow down 18 years of life experiences in to a 500-word essay. It’s like taking a days worth of schoolwork jumble and trying to cram it all in to my head during the first half hour of the day. I needed time to sort through what I really felt, to lay it all out on the paper and then read it aloud to myself. To hear the words and understand what they meant. To try and decide whether or not it was what I truly felt.
Every opportunity that is presented to me no matter how large or how small is my shot at seizing the day. To make something that others perceive as unimportant and make it life changing and utterly important.. To turn one moment into a new piece of the puzzle and not live in the instance that is presented. I will only find my true internal meaning when I take the days that I have captured and put them together. To draw out the detail that is hidden behind each piece. I believe in seizing the day one piece at a time and creating the biggest puzzle of all. My life.