Carpe Diem

The Latin phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ which translated means ‘Seize the day’ is oftentimes used as an encouragement for us to seize the opportunities of the moment and give little thought to the future. It’s a worthy encouragement to those of us who are more inclined to be reserved or cautious.

Philosopher Eckart Tolle tells us that the only thing that is truly real is the present and we really should make the most of it.

By contrast, ‘Carpe Cras’ translated means ‘seize tomorrow’. I think this builds on rather than distracts from ‘Carpe Diem’.

Tomorrow is full of yet unrealised possibilities. Possibilities that are perhaps only limited by our level of imagination, self-belief and sometimes our bank account. The reality is our tomorrow starts today. The choices we make today are investments in tomorrow; whether for good or bad.

One thing we can’t do is ‘Carpe Heri’; seize yesterday. That’s gone. Unalterable. Irrevocable. Sure, we can do things to correct the errors of yesterday, but we can’t undo them.

So we have today. And we have tomorrow.

Every year, many of us invest a lot of energy into starting over in January, believing that there’s some kind of magic that happens between 11:59pm on 31st December and 12:01 on 1st January. Usually by this point of January, we have a more realistic view of this magic. It’s not that there’s no ‘magic’ at all, it’s just that it doesn’t hang around exclusively at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve. The ‘magic’ of the possibility for change is available ‘today’ and also ‘tomorrow’. It has already expired on ‘yesterday’.

So, as we approach the end of the first month of the year, what possibilities, opportunities are there for next month and the month after?

What does it look like for you to ‘carpe diem’ so you can ‘carpe cras’?

TRY THIS…

What do you know today that you didn’t know yesterday?
And what did you know yesterday that you didn’t know the day before?

Someone once said that ‘everyday’s a school day’ referring to the learning opportunities that are present in every day, and I think there is some truth in that.

Ben Harper is Space to Breathe’s Education Lead, you can carry on the conversation with him on Twitter @wellbeingteach