Have you ever found yourself distracted by daydreams of tomorrow’s potential or stuck in regrets from the past?
I admit that one of my struggles is getting caught up in the beauty of what could be. I often think, Maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I’d be happier if I were already there and not here. I believe I would feel more confident, more secure, if I had already achieved certain goals if the checkboxes on my list were already marked complete. I tell myself I would appreciate life more, even something as simple as flowers, once someone special comes along. Once the right person enters the picture.
But happiness? It often feels far away. It always seems like it’s on the way but never quite here. Not now. Not this season.
There are times I try to rest, but my mind won’t cooperate. Even on days meant for slowing down, I find myself already thinking about the next thing, the work for tomorrow, the responsibilities piling up. The rush to get everything done begins the moment the alarm goes off.
Then come the busy streets, the traffic, the paperwork, the deadlines. The monthly bills, the never-ending to-do lists. And yet, in the middle of all that noise and motion, I’m learning to pause. To notice.
To look at the flowers in the field.
To take a walk in the quiet of the early morning.
To hear the wind moving through the trees.
Joy isn’t as far as it feels.
Sometimes joy is found standing at the kitchen sink with messy hair, or in the comfort of newly changed bedsheets that make you want to stay curled up just a little longer.
I remember the version of me who had just graduated from college, stepping into adulthood, convinced I was ready to take on the world. I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to do something big, something meaningful. I was eager to succeed, to contribute, to achieve. But I quickly discovered that the days without validation felt the heaviest. The ones with no achievement, no applause, no clear accomplishment—those were the hardest to face.
And then it hit me: time is moving. Life is happening.
Somewhere along the way, I began to forget how to be present. I’ve spent so much time looking ahead, waiting for what’s next. Waiting for the next sign of progress. Waiting for the next milestone. Waiting for the perfect time. Waiting for the world to affirm that I’m doing okay. Waiting for life to reward me, as if kindness, hard work, and being "good" should guarantee the life I envisioned.
But the truth is this: Carpe Diem—seize the day.
There’s nothing wrong with planning or working hard for a better future. There’s value in vision and preparation, and there’s wisdom in seeing the bigger picture. But if all of that causes me to miss today—if I can’t appreciate what’s right in front of me, if I can't slow down long enough to see what I already have—then I’m missing the point.
Because tomorrow is never promised.
And when we’re so busy chasing the hype, the success, the validation of now, we forget: 100 years from now, no one will remember our productivity, our titles, or even our names.
So why keep chasing significance?
As Ecclesiastes reminds us, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14)
Carpe Diem.
Seize the hugs of your loved ones.
Seize the food on your table.
Seize the beauty that surrounds you now because old age will come.
Seize your strong arms and your steady feet, run while you still can.
Seize the season you're in because transitions will come, and new seasons will be formed.
Seize the tears until they wash away your pain.
Seize the loneliness until you find comfort and warmth again.
Seize the ugly parts you try to hide until you begin to see the beauty in the scars.
Seize the grief, for joy comes in the morning.
Let the moment you're living now be enough.
Let today be sacred.
Let grace be sufficient.
Seize today because the right time is now. Not someday. Not the hope tied to the future. His grace is sufficient now.
Live with open hands and a surrendered heart. Because this is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.
James 4:13–15 (ESV)
"Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’"
Ecclesiastes 3:12–13 (ESV)
"I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man."
Ecclesiastes 1:14 (ESV)
"I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind."
