This post was prepared several weeks ahead of Robin Williams' death. His passing only strengthens the learning.
In the 1989 film, Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams portrays Professor Keating, an unconventional, young professor of literature in a buttoned-down northeastern prep school. He beckons his wary young charges to grab their books and follow him to a trophy case down the hall from the classroom. Professor Keating asks an anxious student, "Mr. Pitts, would you open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first stanza of the poem you find there?" The young man reads, "...Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying." "Thank you Mr. Pitts," the professor responds, 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.' The Latin term for that sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now who knows what that means?" "Carpe Diem," a second student answers, "that's 'seize the day.'" "Very good, Mr. Meeks...Seize the day. 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.' Why does the writer use these lines?" "Because he's in a hurry?" a student suggests. "No, ding!" the professor declares, while slamming his hand down on an imaginary buzzer. "Thank you for playing anyway. Because we are food for worms lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die." The professor turns to the trophy case filled with awards, footballs, and tarnished photos. "Now," he continued, "I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You've walked past them many times. I don't think you've really looked at them." The boys tentatively move toward the cases and Keating moves behind them. "They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in." Professor Keating whispers to the boys, intent on the old photographs, "Carpe. Hear it? Carpe. Carpe diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary."
What do you need to do right now to "seize the day"? | 
