Carpe Diem: Sieze the Day

By Juvante Deo Nuenay, STEM 1201

People’s outlooks in life is justifiably different because each has special
experiences and perceptions influenced by their respective environments and characters.
In relation to this, the outlook this essay will be presenting the idea of encouraging
someone to make the most of the present rather than dwelling on the future or by seizing
the day.
Carpe diem is the Latin translation of the phrase ‘sieze the day’. This phrase was
originally used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that one should enjoy life
while one can. This was because he lived during volatile times. Seize the day was likely
to be sound advice when fortunes could rise rapidly and fall just as fast.
According to Epicureanism, leading this type of life has led the individual to a state
of tranquility, or ataraxia, enabling him to be free of fear. Moreover, it also leads him to a
state of being absent from bodily pain, or aponia. The combination of these two states of
being allowed the person to achieve a state of complete happiness.
One idea the phrase proposes is the practice of gratitude. Carpe diem is an
opportunity. It is an opportunity that presents itself every day. The challenge is realizing
the potential and making the most of it (Caroll, 2016). It is unfortunate that the value of
each day is often recognized and appreciated only when these days are now numbered.
Another popular approach was to see carpe diem as an order to live more
spontaneously— to offer the wind plans and routines. This viewpoint is appealing today
when so many people feel overwhelmed by their electronic schedules and battle off a
digital deluge of calls and messages leaving no time left for spontaneous action. Modern
obsession with managing time merely exacerbates the problem, offering clever ways to
be more "productive" and "efficient," thus increasingly fitting into days without truly
liberating people for free, spontaneous living (Krznaric, 2017).
In general, seizing the day offers opportunities of self-growth and gratitude,
manifesting a life of spontaneous moments.