Be Ready To Seize The Day

By Dwain Wellington Rattray
Pride Contributing Editor

Each of us in the hidden parts of our souls must decide what we most desire and what price we are willing to pay. Whatever the answer, unless an individual is poised to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented, there is the risk of failure simply from a lack of preparation. It is the common error of mankind to dismiss as impossible that which seems improbable. History, fact and logic teach that if the mind can conceive and the heart can believe, then the body can achieve, though the eye does not perceive. The key component is to move. Human nature precludes stepping into the unknown to grasp at the uncertain. For this reason, we are rarely ready to seize the day. Complacency cripples to the point of inaction and stagnation.

During the last week of January 2014, approximately 3 inches (7.6 cm) of snow brought the city of Atlanta, GA, in the Unites States of America to a grinding halt. “Thousands of motorists including school children on school buses were snagged in a web of confusion, hysteria and anarchy for almost two days,” locals reported. But this was not a snap storm. Atlanta did not suddenly walk out the front door to see cold white powder mysteriously falling from the sky – the storm was predicted. The irony here is that “The Weather Channel” is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. At the time of this article being written (two weeks later) another storm is headed to Atlanta; this time around, the city says it is ready with the necessary tools to adequately handle challenges. They have learned the lesson: Be ready to seize the day. It is possible that we may yet experience failure, but we cannot allow that possibility to be a deciding factor in our fate.

Rudyard Kipling penned beautifully:

“If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

…Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build them up with worn-out tools;

 

“If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on;’

 

“… If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it….”

This must be the attitude if success is to be achieved. More than a century ago, on February 12, 1909, a group of individuals came together to form an organization that would help shape the civil rights movement and the world; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). During a time in history when systematic atrocities were a part of the social fabric of society and the rule of law, the NAACP, its predecessors and allies dared to defy those who would seek subjugation of a people. Since that meeting and genesis the NAACP has stood as a bastion of hope and the voice of an otherwise voiceless people. But even that beginning was the result of seizing the day after the riots of 1908 and the pulling together of resources already in place. Among that team was civil rights activist, sociologist, historian, author and editor, W. E. B. Du Bois – born February 23, 1868, who said, “Be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.” That lesson is still relevant today.

I am not naïve enough to suggest that all our dreams are waiting patiently for our delicate hands to pluck like low hanging fruit. We must prepare the soil—whatever that looks like for us—and start making plans for harvest. It is futile to expect abundance in reaping if there was not first tilling, and planting, and toiling to care for delicate buds. Whatever your vocation, there is one universal code for success: Be ready to seize the day. If we can grasp and apply this concept, we have begun to become agents of change. This is true whether we seek to pick from one tree or reap from an orchard; whether we endeavour to change our individual lives, the lives of those around us or that of our community.

Again from Du Bois: “Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.”

During the course of any journey, there will be individuals who do not share your vision. At this point you must me resolute in your conviction and unabashed in the finality of your voice. With your head held proudly high, shoulder pulled firmly back, and chest pushed boldly forward, explain the futility of their naysaying. Let them know that you are ready to seize the day. If words fail you, feel free to use my own weapon against all who would tell me that I cannot fly.

While my dreams may seem “up in the air” to you, and my plans may be unclear, they are my dreams, my plans. If you are unsure of the route I am taking or the destination I envision, you may leave. Otherwise, I will thank you to remain either closed-mouth or become effective in your assistance. When you sit pondering the ramifications of your inability or refusal to seize the day, I encourage you to find, read and learn “If” by Rudyard Kipling. You say my dreams are up in the air? Yes they are! Super sidera votum – my wishes are above the stars. Learn it, live it!