Points2Ponder by Alan P. Scaglione

“Carpe diem! Seize the day!”

There he was, standing at the shore, drawn in by the roar of the tide, the cool of the breeze, the draw of the sheer fun of it all. Standing there, remembering what it was like to just be in the moment, not think of the consequences, the repercussions of his actions and its aftermath--all he wanted was…to walk into that water.


And he did….fully clothed, no change of clothes, no towel, no thought for the ride home in the car, drenched with the ocean water he just walked out into…

All he wanted was…to just respond to the moment…take in the air, really breathe it in, and…just live that moment…like he used to do…before the heart attack.

That spontaneous, in the moment, participant to life, not a stand on the sidelines spectator-- he used to be known for seizing the day, carpe diem!

POINTS2PONDER Why do we talk ourselves out of doing something that we want to do…out of fear of what others will say? Why can’t we just seize the day? When did our carpe diem get strangled and bound? Why did we stop being a kid just because we became an adult?

So…that was me, this past weekend. My wife and I took a drive past Melbourne, past Sebastian and found ourselves in Vero Beach, on the Atlantic.

And there it was that picturesque vista of summer breeze…those aqual teal inviting waves of liquid fun… calling my name!

I stood there on the shore, wanting to walk right into that water, but…

I didn’t have a change of clothes

I didn’t have a towel

I didn’t have anything to sit on in the car for the ride home

But…I wanted to respond to the draw of the water…that aqua teal vision of cool!

I stood there at the shore for what seemed like a million years… contemplating the consequences to my actions, like a mature adult would.

And then…like the guy I used to be…before my heart attack…I seized the day!

And I loved it!!!

Every minute of it…just taking back my spontaneity, my “make a memory” attitude, my “live in the moment” view to life!

As I walked into the water, each next step was more liberating than the last; each move toward the water was a step away from the shore!

I realized “fun” was not watching those waves from the shore; the exhilarating joy was waiting for me in the middle of those aqua waves!

I didn’t look at my wife as she pleaded, “honey, what are you doing? You don’t have a change of clothes? You can’t get wet? The ride home!”

Not this time…not gonna listen to reason, not gonna talk myself out of experiencing this “go for the gusto” moment, staring right at me!

This time…I was going to “seize the day!”

About 50 feet in, I finally did turn around…

There she was…laughing and smiling ear to ear…still on the shore, watching me…but vicariously, she was swimming with her husband!

And as we drove away, she didn’t even say a word about me hanging my shorts on the side of the window to dry!

She just laughed and said…”Good to have you back, baby…I’ve missed you!”

And I just smiled and thought…”yeh, it’s good to be back!”