Carpe Diem

Sunday was three days short of a year from the day I went to the DMV. Waiting in line that day, I starting talking to the shockingly gorgeous girl behind me in line. Danielle (Not her real name) had brown hair and big brown eyes. Her tan skin and amazing smile left me speechless. I'm not the type to get nervous around women, but I was this time. This Danielle had me feeling butterflies like I was back in 6th grade. We talked for a good while and when I was leaving I waved goodbye and exited the DMV.

I never did ask her for her number, and that was a mistake. Everyone has those situations where they just let one get away. It is normal, but this time I couldn't stop thinking about her. For the next couple days I kept thinking, "What if I had..."

I looked for her on Myspace and Facebook to no avail. I had given up, but for the next year, right up until Sunday, I had thought about the DMV girl on a regular basis. Not everyday, but once and a while. She was one of those random strangers that I would probably never forget.

On Sunday morning, as I arrived at church, I watched a good friend of mine walk into church with a friend of his that I had never met before. I went over to say hello to my friend and he introduced me to his friend Dani.

She looked extremely familiar to me, and I knew right away it was the DMV girl. I shook her hand politely and said, "You look very familiar." She replied that I looked familiar as well. After a few minutes of conversation I told her I remembered where I had met her before. She remembered as well once I jogged her memory.

Turns out Danielle, the DMV girl, was childhood friends with one of my best friends. This was one of the best coincidences I've experienced in 2009 yet.

So, of course, we will see how things play out. We are talking now, and maybe it will lead to something, maybe it won't. Either way, I get my question of "What if" answered. I was given a second chance on this rare occasion, and I plan to take it.

I take this situation as a reminder that second chances are rare, and you never want to have to ask yourself "What if." In the new Matthew McConaughey movie, "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" McConaughey's character says that "Pain beats regret every day of the week and twice on Sunday.” Don't live a life full of regrets. Every moment can be taken for all it's worth. Jim Carrey's film, "Yes Man" is an amazing illustration of how incredible life can be when you seize the moment.

Pain and embarrassment will go away and can be pushed aside, but regret is the worst feeling in the world. I got a second chance in one case, but I have more regrets in my life than I have thoughts in my head. Don't regret anything else, from this day forward.

Today, I challenge you to seize every moment possible. Take every second of this day and squeeze it for all it's worth. I challenge you to live your life on a whim. The next time a crazy thought pops into your head, take action on it. I challenge you to push yourself over the edge. I challenge you to never worry about how you will look. I challenge you to make yourself look like a fool.

The challenge has been given. Will you accept? If you can say yes then you are thinking the right things. If you think I'm crazy, think about it a little bit more. If you say no, you may live to regret it, and the pain or embarrassment that comes from seizing the moment can never compare to the feeling the regret can give you.


Carpe Diem,
Oxy