Carpe Diem

We all know what time is. It's the ticking of a clock, the whine of an alarm, the calendar on the wall. We use time to help us organize our days and to use as a tool for duration- time is the measure of our lives.

With every year that passes, I not only grow a year older but each passing year seems to go by faster and faster. Memories come to fade, years blend together, and time never seems to slow down. Once the first day hits of a new year, we only have 8,760 hours in that year, which can feel like a blink of an eye.

When you are a little kid, it is hard to fathom being an adult one day. You have no worries in the world, days are slower, and life is an adventure. Looking back now on my childhood days, I have a hard time grasping how fast it went by. Being an adult, your life revolves around time. 365 days feels like nothing, and when a year passes by, you wished it wouldn’t.

In just the past few years I have lost three grandparents, a childhood friend, and my first pet Sneakers; graduated from college, moved to a big city, and started my career; attended weddings, engagement parties and baby showers for cousins and friends; as well as celebrated countless birthdays and anniversaries. No matter how hard we try to live in the moment, life is passing us by every second. Realizing the importance of life and knowing what we truly value, is the key to living a fulfilled life.

Finding my faith with God has truly helped me grasp the key role time plays in my life and has opened my eyes on how to live a more filled life. Time is too short to be spent on people who are not fulfilling your life, nor on activities that do not make you happy. Instead, spend your every moment how you want. In retrospect I feel I've missed out on many things because I felt compelled to be elsewhere, said yes when I really wanted to say no, and made promises I knew I would never be able to keep. All of these things were a result of believing I knew what would make me feel fulfilled. Yet many times I still seem to fall short from my aspirations.

It takes a lot of courage, motivation, and determination to make changes in your life, but I am growing stronger and feeling more fulfilled as each day passes. I wake up every morning and feel my heart and soul a little bit fuller than the day prior. My outlook on life has changed - now the glass is always half full, not half empty.

Are you filled? Do you know what makes your life more full? These are two questions I ask myself almost every day in hopes that they will continue to guide me to find balance.

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” - Joe Lewis

"Carpe diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think." - Horace