Carpe Diem

While I was doing a little spring cleaning today, I found something that I had written in Jr.High. Something that I wish I'd found a little sooner. I thought I'd share it with you now:

Never let anything slip through your fingers. Remember what it feels like to look back and regret not doing what you wanted. Life is short, it does not leave room for regrets and what-ifs. Open your eyes to all life offers. Don't dwell on what might have happened. Dwell instead on the happy moments. Make memories, keep them, cherish them, love them. Be a little kinder, smile more, love more. Don't be afraid to show who you really are. Don't care about what others will say. Don't pass up an opportunity on something you want. Life life to the fullest, have more fun. Carpe Diem. Seize the day.

I have spent so much of my time looking back at instances that offered me a choice between something scary and something comfortable and easy. Sadly, I've chosen the easy and comfortable route too many times. I've looked back and thought, "What if? What if I'd just taken a chance?" It will never be easy to take that step and put yourself out there, maybe do something so totally out of your comfort zone that you become utterly vulnerable and unprotected. For that minute or second you toter on the edge. We fail to see that there is a net beneath our every jump, a net of friends, of family that will always welcome us back with open arms. I've chosen to step back from the ledge only to find myself wishing that I had stepped forward instead. There is nothing like that rush of wind and sensation of falling.

Things always turn out so differently in our heads. Many times I play out events even before they happen in my head and when faced with the actual event I chicken out and take the easy road. It would be naive of me to say that I wouldn't do that ever again because it's not something changed over night. But I am going to try to be spontaneous and do something I otherwise would be too afraid to do. I'm going to seize the day!