I remember the first time I really heard this phrase and what it really means. The incredible Robin Williams taught it to his poetry class in the wonderful movie, “Dead Poet’s Society”, a movie filled with life lessons. When he says, “because we are all food for worms, lads” I smiled as kid. I was invincible. I had my life ahead of me. I was about to graduate college. Start my career. I was going to make a lot of money, get married, have children, and live the 1980’s American Dream; extreme success. The 1980s was the ‘me, me, me’ generation and since that was high school and college for me, it was imbedded into my being. Robin William’s words struck something deep inside when I heard them for the first time and every time afterwards. Maybe that wasn’t the goal of life. Maybe winning at life was not being Gordon Gecko from the movie Wall Street, Maverick from Top Gun, or Tom Cruise in Risky Business, but instead being Tom Hanks in Big, Jake and Elwood Blues from the Blues Brothers (“We are on a mission from God”), or Reese from Terminator, who lived for much more than extreme success.

After changing careers and getting a master’s degree, I also changed my priorities. The quality of my life was much more important than the money in my pocket. I earned a nice salary and lived a nice life, but I didn’t compare to some of my friends who became extremely financially wealthy. Even today, I joke that I am one of the least successful of my friends as some of them have truly done incredible things and been incredibly financially successful. I have a number of them who have each sold their company for over a hundred million dollars. Generational wealth. A few of them have created products that we all know and use. Some of them more than one. Some are very successful attorneys, doctors, and in the financial world. It would be very easy to be jealous of their success. Yet I am not jealous at all. I wouldn’t trade places with any of them. Why? Because I made the decision many years ago to seize the day. To not miss out on living life. I never wanted to look back and regret the opportunities that I missed because of my quest for success and money. If we are all going to be food for worms, I wanted to make sure that before that happened, I experienced what life has to offer. That inspiration was also seen in the classic 1980’s movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

I didn’t want to miss it. I made sure I was able to spend time when my kids were little at the ball games, music recitals and concerts, class presentations, doctor appointments, and much more. I wanted to soak up every minute because I heard from enough people that the days are long but the years are short. Yet at some point, the career itch got to me and I began to look for the next big step. I took it. I spent ten years in the next big step. I still didn’t miss the sporting events or the music recitals and concerts. I did miss the doctor appointments. I did work much longer hours and dealt with much more stress and pressure. I made sure to do little things like getting season tickets to the Mariners, getting the Broadway season tickets in Seattle and Orlando, and finding time to go away as a family. But it felt different. I knew it felt different. I knew I was not getting what I truly valued. While it was Carpe Diem for my career, it was not Carpe Diem for my life.

About a year ago, things changed drastically for me. It wasn’t what I had planned and I was reminded of the old saying

With unexpected change come unexpected opportunity. I got to spend more time with my family. My new office is in my house meaning I was around most of the time. I had time to cook dinner. I had time to do more things with my family. God made sure that I had the opportunity to once again seize the day.

So I have. While my new job keeps me very busy, I make time for the things that are really important to me. Not work. Not career. Not money. Not status. Not titles. I meet my mom for lunch halfway between Orlando and Tampa once a month. I spend time with friends. My wife and I went to Red Rocks to see Carlos Santana.

My youngest son, his girlfriend and I took Brightline to Miami for a Marlins game (it was Spongebob Squarepants Jersey giveaway and he really wanted to get the jersey).

Yesterday we did the craziest trip I think I have done. We got up at 3:45 am, took a 6 am flght to San Francisco and went to the 12:40 pm Giants-White Sox game. We walked around the outside of the stadium to explore, walked around the inside of the stadium to explore, and had a great time.

After the game and a quick jersey change, we headed over to Oakland to see the A’s play the Rays. There isn’t much to explore in Oakland as it’s a terrible stadium (the A’s are leaving after this year because it’s so bad) but we sat in the 4th row behind home plate at a game with about 1,000 people attending and had a blast. We yelled at the players, the managers, and the umpires. We cheered for our favorite players and they could hear us and we saw their reactions.

When Kevin Cash, the Rays manager, got upset about a bad call by the umpire and got throw out of the game, we were having fun yelling at him and the umpire. We were close and there were so few people at the game, they had to hear us.

We left the A’s game and headed to the airport to take the redeye flight home. One day. 28 hours. Orlando-SF-Oakland-Orlando. Two stadiums. Two ballgames. My son, a friend of mine, and me. What a great day.

Next week I head to Raleigh on Thursday to watch my older son coach college football against NC State. A week later, my younger son and I head to his first home game to watch him coach. I have many other games on the calendar to head up to North Carolina and watch him coach.

In May, I went to Israel for 11 days. Near the end of the trip, I took advantage of an opportunity to go the top of Temple Mount. I had never been there in my 20 prior trips. It was powerful and amazing. We said the shema, sang Am Yisrael Chai, and even did the Gator chomp!

In July I went back to Israel for 14 days with a group of 19-26 year olds as they participated in a leadership trip. I’ve been involved with the program for 26 years but have never been able to actually go on the trip. Man plans, God laughs, so now I had the opportunity. What an incredible two weeks. Not only did I meet some incredible future leaders, I got to have an impact on their lives and help change their lives. What a gift. During some of our free time, I did some work. I got to meet an MK in the Knesset where I had never been before. Work the land. Met with a Brigadier General in the IDF. Pay respects to an IDF medic, killed leaving Gaza, who was a friend of one of the participants and then meet his parents who told us all about their son who gave his life for the Jewish people.

Now, in September, I go back to Israel once again for 8 days to work with a client. I’m arriving a little early so I don’t have jetlag and can enjoy a little weekend time on the beach in Tel Aviv. I’ll have Shabbat dinner with friends of mine in Modi’in and another friend who is visiting Israel is going to join us. As it turns out, he is on the same flights there and back that I am! Only Israel.

The final scene in Dead Poets Society is one of my favorites. Every time I watch it, my heart catches and it brings tears to my eyes. In the beginning of the movie, on his first day, Professor John Keating (Robin Williams) playfully asks his students to address him as “O Captain, My Captain”, as a tribute to his favourite poet. At the end of the movie, after he has been fired and is clearing out his office and the students are being forced back into expectations, they find a way to stand up to power. To show that they have learned something. That they will seize the day. They will live life to its fullest. Every one who participates is risking their spot in the school and their future. Watch and be inspired. It’s never too late to make the changes you want. It’s never too late to seize the day.