Carpe Diem

Charean · 06-12-2001, 04:17 PM

Seize the Moment

I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: Seize the moment.

Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched Jeopardy on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't." Check one:
"My hair is dirty."
"I wish I had known yesterday."
"I had a late breakfast."
"It looks like rain."
And my personal favorite: "It's Monday."

She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect. We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet- trained. We'll entertain when we replace the carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of, "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips had not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now, go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to do -- not just something on your SHOULD DO list.

~ Author unknown

My Own Note Here - Too often I find that I make a choice in favor of what needs to be done and not what I would like to do out of love for someone. There are times I remember that "Doing Out Of Love" always makes me feel better than anything else in this world... so my choices are now influenced by this motto of Carpe Diem!!

------------------

Defender for the Light -
Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!?
Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva
Looking for lost brain - I left it only for a moment....and there it goes... rolling under the table!!
Noticing that the Light has gotten further down a Dark Tunnel than expected... Time to get the Lantern... Knowing sooner or later - I will get to the End of this Tunnel to the Open Air once again...

Sazerac · 06-12-2001, 04:28 PM

Believe me, Charean, nothing brings this more into focus than battling with Death for five days in an ICU room while your entire body's systems are systematically breaking down. Once you've touched the face of Death, you can never return to where you were before.

I treasure every moment I have now...and I have learned to "seize the day."

How sad that it takes some of us up to the brink of Death to be able to understand this!

Charean · 06-12-2001, 04:38 PM

That is how I learned - watching my father die of cancer. That taught me many lessons. One of which is to tell people how I feel about them because Life is uncertain. Another was that life is too short to do what you hate for a living. He literally stressed himself to death, and I had vowed never to do that myself.

(It is cloudy out - no offense Cloudy!

- and I am in one of those pensive moods... )

------------------

Defender for the Light -
Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!?
Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva
Looking for lost brain - I left it only for a moment....and there it goes... rolling under the table!!
Noticing that the Light has gotten further down a Dark Tunnel than expected... Time to get the Lantern... Knowing sooner or later - I will get to the End of this Tunnel to the Open Air once again...

Lavindathar · 06-12-2001, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sazerac:
Believe me, Charean, nothing brings this more into focus than battling with Death for five days in an ICU room while your entire body's systems are systematically breaking down. Once you've touched the face of Death, you can never return to where you were before.

I treasure every moment I have now...and I have learned to "seize the day."

How sad that it takes some of us up to the brink of Death to be able to understand this!

Ok Saz, I hope you dont mind me asking,but what happened to you.If you dont want me to know, just say so!!

------------------

RudeDawg · 06-12-2001, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sazerac:
How sad that it takes some of us up to the brink of Death to be able to understand this!

Brother-man, Sazerac!

We've shared partial histories, so I remember what you went through. Flat-lining myself was the best thing that happened to me. The grass was greener, the sky bluer afterwards. I am stronger for the pain that I went through.

My prayers are pretty free-flowing, but the only thing that I repeat daily is this idea: Let me live today as if it were my last. If it is my last, let me make it my best. If it is not, let me give thanks.

------------------

Moiraine · 06-12-2001, 06:12 PM

You know what, I never had to face the trials that some of you did. I had a bad breakdown 3 years ago, and I came out of it mostly by having myself think and think, how absurd I was being, I had NOTHING wrong clinically, no 'real' illness, so what ? Knowing that, I still couldn't feel well and live my life ?

Yeah, I agree with you, Charean, with both hands. Back then, I started looking at all the people running all day, burying themselves under work, and I started thinking that maybe most of them never did stop running because they can't stop, because if they would stop for a minute and think, they would realize that they do that only to try to forget that they will die someday. And I was that kind of person before. Able to spend 12 and 14 hours a day programming. Not anymore. Now, I can do my job, take pleasure in it, but not ever forgetting that it is all a nice activity which won't let a trace in the world when I'm dead. Fun at times, boring at times, but not, never, a compulsive way to think I am alive.

Hey Charean, do you really really think that we would love you an inch less if you happened to get a little ... less thin ?

Go, girl, go eat that ice-cream. I pay.

------------------

The world is my oyster !
And now I have the knives to open it ...

[This message has been edited by Moiraine (edited 06-12-2001).]

Lady Avalon · 06-12-2001, 06:33 PM

I love it Charean. How true. I myself have been guilty of excuses not to do something I like to do. I have learned to slow down and enjoy life on a daily basis. I have never experienced the near-death traumas that some of you have faced, but have gone through some very trying times and even though they seemed unbearable at the time, yes, I got through them.

I was talking about my 15 year old son with another woman, who also has a 15 year old boy. I believe I was complaining about my son not doing things like he should and after we talked for about 15 minutes about teenage boys, she said to me that she has learned how to spend quality time with her son and that she enjoys his presence on a daily basis because you never know from one day to the next what's going to happen and your son may not be with you. That thought has stuck in my head and I am trying to live with that thought in my head.

Also, how often do we take our partners for granted? I'm sure we're all guilty of that.

Yes, Seize the Moment.

It's always nice to stop in here and read something uplifting like this Charean. Thank you so much.

------------------

Sazerac · 06-12-2001, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lavindathar:
Ok Saz, I hope you dont mind me asking,but what happened to you.If you dont want me to know, just say so!!

Lavindathar: Here's the link to the thread, if you wish to read it. I'm not sure if I want to bump it up or not...don't want to be a crashing bore online!

http://www.tgeweb.com/cgi-bin/ubb/No...ML/000930.html

Oh, what the He**, I bumped it up anyway! Who am I afraid of?

[This message has been edited by Sazerac (edited 06-12-2001).]

Neb · 06-12-2001, 07:21 PM

My schedule dosen't stop me from doing stuff, because I don't have any schedule at all!

It's so nice not to have schedule, and strangely, it all seems to work out anyway, just relax.

Charean · 06-12-2001, 07:43 PM

You are more than welcome Lady Avalon - This is one of those things I truly love to do (there was another forum once upon a time that a bunch of wonderful women had, and we did this ALL the time

)

Moiraine - You are always a wonderful and compassionate being - and I know what you are talking about. You have more than triumphed over your challenge and become who you are because of it - and I am glad to call you friend.

There are days I just want folks to realize that what is here won't be here forever - our work, our problems, whatever.

A couple more thoughts:

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

and

This too, shall pass.

Sometimes, like now, I need to remember both of those to get me through.

------------------

Defender for the Light -
Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!?
Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva
Looking for lost brain - I left it only for a moment....and there it goes... rolling under the table!!
Renunciate in Training
Trucker Punkin Fluffy

06-12-2001, 04:17 PM	#1
Charean Hathor Join Date: March 6, 2001 Location: Waxahachie, TX Age: 60 Posts: 2,201	Seize the Moment I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: Seize the moment. Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched Jeopardy on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gasp and stammer, "I can't." Check one: "My hair is dirty." "I wish I had known yesterday." "I had a late breakfast." "It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect. We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Stevie toilet- trained. We'll entertain when we replace the carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of, "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips had not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now, go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to do -- not just something on your SHOULD DO list. ~ Author unknown My Own Note Here - Too often I find that I make a choice in favor of what needs to be done and not what I would like to do out of love for someone. There are times I remember that "Doing Out Of Love" always makes me feel better than anything else in this world... so my choices are now influenced by this motto of Carpe Diem!! ------------------ Defender for the Light - Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!? Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva Looking for lost brain - I left it only for a moment....and there it goes... rolling under the table!! Noticing that the Light has gotten further down a Dark Tunnel than expected... Time to get the Lantern... Knowing sooner or later - I will get to the End of this Tunnel to the Open Air once again...

06-12-2001, 04:28 PM	#2
Sazerac Ironworks Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Monroe, LA Age: 60 Posts: 7,387	Believe me, Charean, nothing brings this more into focus than battling with Death for five days in an ICU room while your entire body's systems are systematically breaking down. Once you've touched the face of Death, you can never return to where you were before. I treasure every moment I have now...and I have learned to "seize the day." How sad that it takes some of us up to the brink of Death to be able to understand this!

06-12-2001, 04:38 PM	#3
Charean Hathor Join Date: March 6, 2001 Location: Waxahachie, TX Age: 60 Posts: 2,201	That is how I learned - watching my father die of cancer. That taught me many lessons. One of which is to tell people how I feel about them because Life is uncertain. Another was that life is too short to do what you hate for a living. He literally stressed himself to death, and I had vowed never to do that myself. (It is cloudy out - no offense Cloudy! - and I am in one of those pensive moods... ) ------------------ Defender for the Light - Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!? Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva Looking for lost brain - I left it only for a moment....and there it goes... rolling under the table!! Noticing that the Light has gotten further down a Dark Tunnel than expected... Time to get the Lantern... Knowing sooner or later - I will get to the End of this Tunnel to the Open Air once again...

06-12-2001, 06:12 PM	#6
Moiraine Anubis Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Up in the Freedomland Alps Age: 59 Posts: 2,474	You know what, I never had to face the trials that some of you did. I had a bad breakdown 3 years ago, and I came out of it mostly by having myself think and think, how absurd I was being, I had NOTHING wrong clinically, no 'real' illness, so what ? Knowing that, I still couldn't feel well and live my life ? Yeah, I agree with you, Charean, with both hands. Back then, I started looking at all the people running all day, burying themselves under work, and I started thinking that maybe most of them never did stop running because they can't stop, because if they would stop for a minute and think, they would realize that they do that only to try to forget that they will die someday. And I was that kind of person before. Able to spend 12 and 14 hours a day programming. Not anymore. Now, I can do my job, take pleasure in it, but not ever forgetting that it is all a nice activity which won't let a trace in the world when I'm dead. Fun at times, boring at times, but not, never, a compulsive way to think I am alive. Hey Charean, do you really really think that we would love you an inch less if you happened to get a little ... less thin ? Go, girl, go eat that ice-cream. I pay. ------------------ The world is my oyster ! And now I have the knives to open it ... [This message has been edited by Moiraine (edited 06-12-2001).]

06-12-2001, 06:33 PM	#7
Lady Avalon Emerald Dragon Join Date: March 2, 2001 Location: Tennessee, U.S.A. Age: 74 Posts: 996	I love it Charean. How true. I myself have been guilty of excuses not to do something I like to do. I have learned to slow down and enjoy life on a daily basis. I have never experienced the near-death traumas that some of you have faced, but have gone through some very trying times and even though they seemed unbearable at the time, yes, I got through them. I was talking about my 15 year old son with another woman, who also has a 15 year old boy. I believe I was complaining about my son not doing things like he should and after we talked for about 15 minutes about teenage boys, she said to me that she has learned how to spend quality time with her son and that she enjoys his presence on a daily basis because you never know from one day to the next what's going to happen and your son may not be with you. That thought has stuck in my head and I am trying to live with that thought in my head. Also, how often do we take our partners for granted? I'm sure we're all guilty of that. Yes, Seize the Moment. It's always nice to stop in here and read something uplifting like this Charean. Thank you so much. ------------------

06-12-2001, 07:21 PM	#9
Neb Account deleted by Request Join Date: May 17, 2001 Location: . Age: 38 Posts: 8,802	My schedule dosen't stop me from doing stuff, because I don't have any schedule at all! It's so nice not to have schedule, and strangely, it all seems to work out anyway, just relax.

06-12-2001, 07:43 PM	#10
Charean Hathor Join Date: March 6, 2001 Location: Waxahachie, TX Age: 60 Posts: 2,201	You are more than welcome Lady Avalon - This is one of those things I truly love to do (there was another forum once upon a time that a bunch of wonderful women had, and we did this ALL the time ) Moiraine - You are always a wonderful and compassionate being - and I know what you are talking about. You have more than triumphed over your challenge and become who you are because of it - and I am glad to call you friend. There are days I just want folks to realize that what is here won't be here forever - our work, our problems, whatever. A couple more thoughts: That which does not kill us makes us stronger. and This too, shall pass. Sometimes, like now, I need to remember both of those to get me through. ------------------ Defender for the Light - Goodness knows there is a lot of Dark out there!! - Where are my matches?!? Wandering Soul - Finding my life's calling is Bodhisattva Looking for lost brain - I left it only for a moment....and there it goes... rolling under the table!! Renunciate in Training Trucker Punkin Fluffy

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