Seize the day. I believe people are too focused and consumed by the past and the future than to take the time and focus on the present itself. As stated in the poem “Carpe Diem,” Robert Frost suggested that “It lives less in the present than in the future always and less in both together than in the past” (lines 20-23).
Robert Frost’s perspective within this poem is “the present is so busy that it distracts people from actually living and taking everything in” (page 3 of the assignment handout) I couldn’t agree more, with today’s society we as people are too busy with our daily lives to live in the moment and just enjoy the life we have been given. We only get one life and we are supposed to make the most of it.
We try so hard to get to the future as fast as possible while depending on the past as cane to aid us that we never really stop and take a deep breath while taking in today as the only day that matters. Today’s society is almost too overcome with technology to really appreciate the world we live in. Back in the day when there was no televisions, computers or cellphones people communicated with nature and each other verbally and spiritually. They took the time to enjoy the present as it was and used their knowledge they gained to pass on to their children in hopes to better the future.
Elderly people use their knowledge to enlighten today’s society on how simple life was and should be but yet we still become too consumed by our over active lifestyles The two lovers in this poem are so in love and determined to be together- as to be caught up in the moment you could say and believe they are happy yet have not realized the true happiness they have gained together that they have not experienced the true happiness they desire due to the fact they are so overwhelmed by their daily strive for better to actually focus on their love as it is today.
I think everybody in today’s society live a lifestyle where they do not cherish the present but rather looks to the past hoping for better results in the future. A prime example of this situation is ones who meet and date for a short period and then get married quickly after and then not to long after realize they are not for each other.
What happened was these two people were succumbed with the thought of happiness that they truly did not reach the true underlying happiness, as expressed in a different form as Robert says (in lines 15-18) “That overtaken lovers from being over flooded with happiness should have it. And yet not know they have it. ” Which is simply saying the two lovers thought they reached the full happiness by the thoughts and emotions they were overcome by but did not really know they were happy cause of the too busy life they were living in pursuit of the future.
I myself experience this kind of daily living, when I had my daughter two years ago I could not have been happier to start my life with my baby girl. I was constantly planning and setting up things for her future and figuring out how I wanted to raise her, what I wanted for her to get out of life and before I knew it days, weeks, and months have passed by and all I had was pictures to remind me of what once was.
She was growing up so fast before my eyes that within the blink of an eye I was planning her first birthday, I sat there and reflected on the past year and came to the realization that I was to consumed with figuring things out for her future and posting pictures on Facebook for friends and family that I did not take the year I was given already and cherish it day by day and make the most of each day that was presented.
I just had her second birthday two months ago and I still sit here looking at her and asking where time went and regret not taking these precious years so far into consideration in depth at the time and just grow with her and receive the utter most enjoyment out of becoming a parent rather than focusing on her future at such on early age. As of today when I reflect I know I should have done a lot of things differently cause she will never experience these great milestones and growing ever again in her life nor will I ever get to hold her as a baby and rock her to sleep or grasp her once tiny little fingers around my one finger.
She will never take another first step and I will never hear those mumbled first words that sound like a mixture of a foreign language and an actually word. I was too busy as a parent always focusing on what is to be expected at her age or looking forward to her talking and walking or riding her first bike or telling me how her day was, being consumed by society’s “rules” as a parent with how to raise them and care for them that I never stopped and just took every day in as it was and just focused on hers and my own utter happiness as a whole.
My daughter is my everything and as a single parent I know that not just myself but majority of most single mothers out there, that we are always trying to do better for our child and when time just flies by we sit there and become overwhelmed with sorrow and regret that we never just made everything simple and let things happen on their own. I know I wish I lived in a simpler time and I as a parent didn’t have so many worries regarding my child whether it comes to safety, health, and stability.
I have questions constantly popping up in my head such as will she be safe outside, will she be able to afford shelter and food, will she be accepted for who she is when she grows up, will the cost of school be too high for her to attend to get a higher education and grow within her career choice. These questions I do not have the answers to and never will but every time I look at her I worry for her well-being especially when the time comes that I am no longer here to help her. When I was growing up the cost of living was lower I never had a cell phone or a social media site.
My curfew was when the street lights came on school was easily assessable to all kinds of parents being a kid did not carry so much weight and responsibility being a parent did not carry so much concern. Nevaeh is a piece of me who walks around with my heart on her sleeve and soon will be independent but my job as a parent is to guide, care, and nurture her every step of the way which is my ultimate goal in life. She is the air I breathe but no matter how hard I try to make things simpler, I constantly find myself looking to the past and future and not really cherishing the present still to this day.
The gift I was given by being able to be her mother is a once in a lifetime chance she will never experience these years again and I will never get to watch her grow from a tiny little dot to a grown women throughout her lifetime. I feel that with me being caught up in daily life and not seizing the day is a shame on my part and after reading this poem I now will try harder to stop and smell the flowers first hand rather than just walk past them per say. Every single individual should take the time to reflect and change certain aspects in their lives because then and only then will we have the true happiness we seek in life.
It will not be in the past as the past is made for us to learn from nor will it be in the future as that is only a figment of our imagination but all true happiness lies within the present. What we make of today will be our greater tomorrow. I was given very wise advice growing up and that is to live as today is your last cause you never know what will happen tomorrow. This saying is so true to this poem this young couple to which Age is looking upon are so lost in the thought of the future that they do not know what the present is and never will till it is too late.
