Carpe diem

Hallelujah, it’s a new day, opportunity for a fresh start, the first day of the rest of your life.  C’mon, get out of bed, stretch your arms, say a few words of thanks for breath, for heartbeat, for arms and legs that move.  Hug your spouse, cat or dog and go brush your teeth.  While looking in the bathroom mirror, say to yourself, “you are wonderful, I love you.”

“Larry, it’s raining, the weather is dismal, my spouse is snoring, my back hurts, I was up too many times to pee, I am tired and I just want to snuggle up to my pillow and waste the day in bed.”

Okay, that also is an option.  Maybe tomorrow will be a better day – if you still have breath and a heartbeat tomorrow.  Do you realize the rarity of being alive this moment of  this day in the history of mankind?  Do you understand how precious this waking moment is, that any moment’s breath could be the last?  Do you?

CARPE DIEM!  Seize the day, it belongs to you.  Your Lord made it just for you.  We don’t have the luxury of rolling the dice and accepting anything that happens in this day.  Get out there and do something.  Learn something new.  A skill, a hobby, a new yoga practice, a delicious recipe for Caribbean chicken, an exciting writing idea.  Just do it.  Carpe diem.  Tomorrow could be too late.

Lounging in bed still sounding like a good idea?  Okay, try this.  Think of a friend in the hospital who can’t leave his bed, an elderly family member who’s confined to a wheelchair, the veteran who suffers debilitating PTSD, your neighbor who unsuccessfully attempted suicide last week?

God gave you this day to make a difference in your life or the life of another of his children.  Seize the moment and make it a spectacular testimony of a life well-lived and humbly appreciated.  And when that last breath of the last moment of the last day is upon us, may we hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

So get up, get moving!  It’s a beautiful day.