Carpe Diem

A very nice friend sent this to me, and I cut a small part of her speech to share with you.
The following is from Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen's commencement address to Villanova University, Friday 23 June 2000:
"So here is what I wanted to tell you today:
Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water gap or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a cheerio with her thumb and first finger.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work. Each time you look at your diploma, remember that you are still a student, still learning how to best treasure your connection to others. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your Mom. Hug your Dad. Get a life in which you are generous."
We have all heard it a thousand times: carpe diem-seize the day. We only live life once, unless you believe in reincarnation, and we really need to put it all into perspective. This is something I admit I often struggle to do. I remember the days when I had no money, and getting to eat a tuna fish sandwich was a great thing to me. Now we fast forward a few years and here I am, making it okay on my own-a far cry from the person I used to be. I can go to the store whenever I want to and just buy myself a soda just because. I can't even tell you what that feels like. If I choose to make chicken versus steak for dinner, I can make that choice. I can choose to enjoy the beautiful weather or stay inside all day. But I think that perhaps it takes great struggles, great heartache, to truly appreciate the gifts in life... or perhaps it takes falling down so hard you don't think you can ever pick yourself up again. But our lives are what we make them, and how fast they pass us by.
There have been so many times in the past that I have fallen down, flat on my face, and I worried-that no one would be there to pick me up. But then, the clouds in my heart would part, and somehow the sun would shine through-and my friends, those who loved me the most, pick me up, dust me off, and carry me through.
There are people close to me who teach me new things every day. I am learning so much and am so greatful for my friends. We have all come from difficult places, we all come together with our broken hearts and terrible pasts, and we grow closer, enjoying one another's company-and I am ever so thankful for them.
But we must enjoy our time here on this Earth. We have so little time. I can't imagine why people feel the need to hurt one another, to be any less than genuine, to deceive and to lie, when all we have is what we are.
All we have is what we are. And we have God and each other. So seize the day. Make this life really really count.