Carpe Diem: Pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one

A new morning awakens us up each day. The previous night may have been ghoulish, but the fresh morning never fails to arrive, lighting up nature with its gentle warm rays of sunlight. The shape that seemed dark and ominous turns bright during the day – tree, pillar, rock, shrub, a harmless rope, a sleeping dog, a vehicle or a building. Similarly, one’s perspective may become clearer. The day has unfolded with all its freshness, a new page to write experiences.

Why should not one welcome it as hope personified? Yesterday has gone, but the day and the moment are here, for you to mould in the way you wish. Why not try? The phrase, ‘Seize the moment’, comes from Carpe Diem, a Latin phrase coined by Horace, a Roman poet. He said, ‘Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero’, meaning, ‘Pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one’. It is not a pessimistic attitude but a pragmatic one.

One’s body is equivalent to a complex machine prone to failure. A story from the epic Mahabharat highlights this when King Yudhishthir asks a needy person to return the next morning for receiving alms, it is his brother Bheem who recalls him and hands over his costly ornament. He then praises his brother for being so sure of his next day. Yudhishthir acknowledges the philosophic yet blunt truth in Bheem’s words. So, let us act, seize the moment.