A month ago my mentor told us a story that transformed my view of plans and things. It was a story of a 9 year old girl who weighed the importance of past, present and future. Her dad asked her which is more important between the 3, and briefly she answered, “THE PRESENT!” Her father completely puzzled asked why, and then the little girl said, “The past you can’t do anything about it, the future is not yet here and we’re not sure what lies ahead, we only have NOW and this is the time where we can start making the difference”. See, it just comes from a 9 year old girl, yet the depth of its message is enough to make an adult think.
I guess I am one person who was deeply affected by the message of the story. I was the kind of person who was anxious about the future and I fear the consequences of risks. I have a deuce of time facing the things to come because I nursed my frustrations from the times of yore and I held grudges towards my failures. I realized that my growth and productivity as a person is held back by circumstances of the past and the only way to move ahead is to liberate all the pain. Eckhart Tolle said “Nobody’s life is entirely free of pain and sorrow. Isn’t it a question of learning to live with them rather than trying to avoid them?”—The Power of Now. True enough, there’s nothing we can do about the past, and our only ticket to make it better is to be the best that we can be right now—to live. There’s is actually nothing impossible if we try to put 101% efforts in everything that we do. I noticed that when do our best today, we are essentially making our future sound better.
Carpe Diem! A poem by Horace and more popularly remembered from the movie Dead Poets Society. Seize the day, that’s what we should do, to take chance in everything, to embrace the risks and beat the challenge, to gain from failures and learn from mistakes, to circumvent a stagnant life, to grow, to kiss your parents, to hug a friend, to tell and make that one person feel that you love him/her—to live. The only thing that exists is what is happening right now, so might as well utilize its power to craft all the difference. We may never know what will happen next, what’s there in tomorrow, or what’s left the next day. Things change and people come and go so hold a hand, utter a word, use your voice and never ignore a chance, for without it life is yours to miss.
“Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. WD”