I Believe in Life

I believe in life. Not just the idea of living, and not a pro-choice or pro-life issue. People use the Latin phrase “carpe diem” to represent living life to its fullest, but there is more to life than most who retain this philosophy maintain. Most of the people I have encountered who utilize this phrase as their mantra seem to attack life to get a rush, a thrill, and then when there are those who don’t do the same, it is said to seize the day, and to live life to its fullest. Honestly, I am all about seizing the day, just not like these thrill seekers. I am more inclined to size the moment, to stop and smell a flower, to enjoy a nice relaxing game of golf. To learn all that there is to learn from my elders, those that are knowledgeable not by higher education, but by life. This to me is seizing the day. The ability to love family and friends, to enjoy company of others, and to even have fun doing so, this is life. Seeking the next thrill, the next death defying adventure, is not living life, it is experimenting with life and death. There is a fondness of the adrenaline rush which comes when the body has no idea what could happen to it, and this is what several say is seizing the day. I don’t believe that. I may not hike to the top of Everest, I may not dive into shark infested waters, I may not even raft down a river, but to me, that is not what life is about. Life is all in what you make it, and to me, life is loving friends and family, stopping to smell the flowers, and even playing a game of tag with my nieces and nephews. Right now that is my life, a life that I wouldn’t trade for all the gold in fort Knox, carpe diem.