Carpe Diem

 

CARPE DIEM.  HOW many times have we heard that Latin aphorism?  You may have heard this story about a young fisherman who was enjoying himself on the bank of a beautiful river when a stressed-out businessman came along.  Stopping in front of the fisherman, the businessman said, ”You aren’t going to catch many fish with that single rod. You’re young. If you worked instead, you could make money, buy many nets and catch more fish.”  “And what would I get out of that?”, asked the fisherman💚💛💜

“With more money, you could buy a boat and catch even more fish!”  “And what would I get out of that?”, the fisherman replied.  The businessman became agitated: “You could buy more boats, hire many people to work for you!”  "And what would I get out of that?” repeated the fisherman.  Now, the businessman was very irritated. ‘Don’t you see? You could build up a whole fleet of fishing boats, have them sail all over the world, and have hundreds of employees catching fish for you!’  Once again, the fisherman asked, “And what would I get out of that?”  The businessman shouted: “You could become so rich that you would never have to work for a living again! You could spend the rest of your days sitting here, without a care in the world!”  The fisherman then smiled and said, “Isn’t this exactly what I am doing right now?”😍😍😍

NOW, if I may speculate, that fisherman must have been familiar with the concept of CARPE DIEM, that Latin phrase WHICH means SEIZE THE DAY.    What CARPE DIEM suggests is that we should focus on WHAT's happening right now.  Savor the uniqueness and value of every moment in life, mindful of the fact that time flies and life is short.  In fact, CARPE DIEM is very much related to another Latin phrase MEMENTO MORI which means "REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL DIE'!!!

Unfortunately, CARPE DIEM means different things to different people.  For some, it is all about enjoying a quite life OR taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  WHAT CARPE DIEM shouldn't be confused with it is hedonism, that belief that earthly pleasures are WHAT matters most in life.  CARPE DIEM represents much more than that though.  While the motto uses the present as a tool for the future, hedonists DON'T care WHAT the future holds.  After all, they will be dead, and by then, it will be too late to have fun, if at all💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  My realization is that it is imperative NOT to equate CARPE DIEM with fatalism, the belief that all events are predetermined.  YES, I'm referring to people WHO hardly ever think about the future, resigned as they are that they are unable to influence it.  Sadly, fatalists live a day-by-day existence NOT because they seek pleasure BUT because they leave the future to fate.  YES, sadly, some people continue to live in the past.  You could even say that they're stuck in it as they keep brooding over WHAT happened.  All along, others spend a great part of their lives dreaming about the future and WHAT may happen.  They keep constructing questionable 'scripts' of the future.  So, can we embrace CARPE DIEM after all, dude😊😊😊