Carpe Diem, Guys, Carpe Diem (Markus McDaniel)
It means “Seize the Day,” and that’s what you need to do. Take charge, make a decision for yourself, stand up for someone, kick back and relax, invent something, find a new job, go back to school, eat an ice cream, watch a movie, read a book, go bowling with friends, get out and see the world, or clean your room.
It’s up to you.
Yup, I’m going to be semi-motivational today. So let’s start it off with a famous quote: “Noah was an amateur. The Titanic was built by professionals.” We all know what happened to the Titanic; it’s now available to watch in re-mastered 3D. And you don’t have to be religious to entertain the idea of some 600-year-old man building an arc from scratch.
The point is, you don’t need to be a professional or an expert to go and do the things you want to do. If you don’t know where your niche might be in this world, try a bunch of different things! There’s bound to be something that’ll spark your fire, and make you happy that you’re doing it.
There’s too much criticism – mainly from your own self – and too much overanalyzing these days that end up limiting people. What’s worse than being too scared to do something? Doing nothing and realizing that you’re now seventy. Why be afraid of trying something based on other people’s thoughts? You only have one life, believe it or not. Reincarnation isn’t a “for sure” thing, so make this life how you want it. We all want to believe we will live forever somehow, but the reality is we can’t. We have mortality. We won’t last forever on Earth. So why not do what you love while you’re still kicking?
For example, I want to write. I want to become a published and, hopefully, an established author one day. I have so many thoughts running through my head that I want to turn into magical stories for others to read. I have the images, I have the ideas, I have the creativity, but then when I sit down to write – to write something I consider being “official” – I start to criticize every sentence. I start to criticize my syntax as if I were the editor. I start to wonder if what I’m writing is going to be “good enough” to get picked up by a publisher. “Am I good enough?” I start to think. When I get like that, I end up putting a block on my creative flow, and then I let dust settle on my projects.
Why? Why do I do that? I shouldn’t. I should just write what I feel like writing, and create stories that I feel like creating. Because, let’s face it, there’s some really shitty stuff out there that has been “officially” published. I used to work at Chapters, and let me tell you, I’ve seen some really bad books and wondered, ‘How could someone – wait – many someones, approve this book and let it reach the shelves?’ It’s a joke. So I need to stop being afraid of what some people might say about my stories. If it happens to touch someone in a positive way, somewhere out there, then that’ll be an accomplishment on its own. If I continue to be too judgmental of my own work, then I won’t end up publishing anything in my lifetime. Next thing you know, I’ll be on my deathbed, wondering, “What if I wrote that book?”
Just look at your idols. Did they get there by being too afraid of doing what they wanted? More than likely they had to take many risks; they had to put themselves out there for rejection. And rejection happens. It’s how you take that and form it into something positive to fuel yourself to move onto the next project.
So take this day and make a decision to do something. It could be as simple as picking water to drink over soda pop, or as life-changing as deciding to move to Tokyo for a job promotion. Either way, I urge you to start living your life how you want to. You only get one chance, and as I can see it, time isn’t going to slow down anytime soon. You have so many capabilities to make an impact and big changes around you; you’d be surprised what you can do. Don’t be discouraged if things don’t happen over night; it took Noah a few decades to build the arc, although being like six hundred years old could have slowed him down.
Seize the day and chase after your dreams. No one else can do it for you.
Xoxo
Read more from Markus at: www.schnippits.wordpress.com