Seize the day- "carpe-diam."

Live for the moment or being mindful.

Being mindful is one of the most important lessons we learn from our teachers. When I was in school around 20 years back, I can remember one of my teachers advised us to 'Live for the moment'. There was no reason to believe that was not a good advice. Even before that, we already knew, to be aware is one of the assets of being a human being, or an animal. Without being aware, we cannot enjoy a good meal, we cannot listen to good music, or we cannot rejoice the sceneries the nature provides us with.

Imagine a beach were the Cristle clear waters slowly travels back and forth. Washing the sand again and again. Light winds to wash away the tiredness and reduce the weight of our heads carry with all the thoughts from the past and the unpredictability of the future. Imagine the setting sun reflected in golden colors on sand and waves. If you waddle into the water, through the sensations created by the fine sand, you will reach beyond the foamy waves to see the colorful fish from coral reefs swimming around your feet.

And it is the mindfulness which provides us with such opportunities to experience the nature in its most undisturbed forms.

But often we are swinging back and forth like a pendulum, as our baggage from the past is too heavy on us. We do not realize that we are stuck in our own web of thoughts woven from past and future. We realize that we cannot enjoy the beauty of now.

Seize the day - Times spent on a tree.

I can remember when I was a kid, at a time there were no phones, we had plenty of time for ourselves and nature. When we got back from the school, (usually I finished my homework at the school, so there was no pressure to myself to open those books back at home) I used to change myself and climb up a tree, in our garden. There were plenty of trees, short, small guava trees. there were plenty of fruits on these trees, that we could pluck and eat. I used to sit on a tree branch, pluck one of fruits hidden among leaves and eat. Once that is done, i still waited on the tree, looking at skies, green fields and occasional vehicle or a walker down the village road. Hours were spent on trees, sometimes afternoons. Mostly it is hot and humid, the tropical weather, but casual winds and shades from tree leaves, it was far better than 'weather in a room'.

There was no specific task to do, there was no specific thing to think, there was no agenda, there was no deadline, exams seem always far away. Now when I think back at such times, I really cannot remember there were any thoughts at all. Maybe there was nothing. Maybe there were just thoughts about clouds, wind and the cows who graze in nearby fields, flashing across the mind like a mist. However, such times were not wasted. The silence it has created may have allowed my mind to settle over time that even an ant walking on the leaf is an amazing exiting sight. Even the water buffalo on the field grazing the mouthful of grass over and over again, wagging its ears and shaking its skin to chase away flocks of flies was a sight to see.

Story of a pond - mindfulness.

There was a wise man once who has been into deep parts of a forest and found a pond in the thickest parts of it. These ponds are so pure, and calm that you can see the bottom of the ponds even they are few feet's deep. He went into the water and drank a mouthful and noticed that the disturbances have created a storm in the bottom of the pond and it was no longer clear enough to see. However, he went back into the forest to do whatever his deed and when he came back from the same route, he noticed the waters were clear back again.

Imagine our minds are ponds. Whenever there is an extruder taps into our information network there will be a disturbance and chaos inside and no longer, we are able to see through ourselves. However, if you let enough time aside and be patient like the nature did, there will be natural process of calming down. It would be effortless, tireless, and more importantly rewarding than anything else we do to.

Carpe-diam meaning "seize the day" is a Latin term which was famously used and popularized in the film The dead Poet's Society. You would find more insights in the link to the article.

In summary Seize the day- "carpe-diam.

• If you would like to carpe-diam, you will have to be mindful about what you are doing.

• Sometimes watchful waiting helps, until you are clarified of what to do.