Seize The Day

One of the enjoyments I have in life is the love of poetry. I especially like it when I come across a new poem that has specific meaning for me at the time. With the beginning of a new year, the following poem I stumbled upon this morning struck a chord.

The Lesson Of The Water Mill

Listen to the water mill:
Through the livelong day
How the clanking of the wheel
Wears the hours away;

. . . . . . . . . .

And a proverb haunts my mind
As a spell is cast:
"The mill will never grind
With the water that has passed."
Take the lesson to thyself,
Loving heart and true;
Golden years are fleeting by,
Youth is passing, too;
Learn to make the most of life;
Lose no happy day;
Time will never bring thee back
Chances swept away.
Leave no tender word unsaid;
Love while life shall last;
"The mill will never grind
With the water that has passed."

. . . . . . . . . .

Take the proverb to thine heart,
Take! Oh, hold it fast:
"The mill will never grind
With the water that has passed!"

~ Sarah Doudney

Often the past is a wonderful treasure. There are fond memories. There are accomplishments we have achieved. Places we have visited. Friends we have made. Having these treasured memories and past events is great, but sometimes we forget that these are the past and not the present. Instead of trying to create new occasions, all too often we tend to just regurgitate our old ones. We fail to realize the sentiment voiced above, that the mill will never grind with the water that has passed. We futilely try to cling to the life that has already passed us by. In effect we stop living, and become a relic of our pasts.

The situation becomes even more stark when we think about past negative events. Frequently we seem to nurture these, almost afraid to let them go, as though in doing so, we would lose part of ourselves. The more we hold on to them the more they define who we are. We become the hoarders that we have all seen in TV shows from time to time, that cannot bear to throw anything away until their homes become so clutter with garbage that they are no longer hygienic nor habitable. 

One of my favorite quotes comes from Sara Teasdale who stated:  

"I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes." 

I hope that we can all learn to let go of the past. Get out there and create new memories instead of living among our past ones. But more especially learn to let go of the past hurts, the past relationships that are over, the past disappointments, the past failures. Do not let these define who you are. And especially do not let today, and the opportunities it affords to live, pass you by.


In the words of the character John Keating from the movie Dead Poets Society:

"Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day..., make you lives extraordinary."

I hope that this coming year will be one where you leave the past in the past and move forward to make you life extraordinary.