seized the day

Verb

seize the day (third-person singular simple present seizes the day, present participle seizing the day, simple past and past participle seized the day)

1. (idiomatic) To enjoy the present and not worry about the future; to live for the moment.

   Synonyms:

   carpe diem, gather rosebuds

2. (idiomatic) To make the most of today by achieving fulfillment in a philosophical or spiritual sense.
3. (idiomatic) To attack the day's efforts with vigor and purpose.
   • IN toasting the beginning of a new relationship between China and the United States in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing twenty years ago, I quoted from a poem in which Mao Zedong exhorted his followers to work for the victory of communism: "So many deeds cry out to be done always urgently....1992, Richard Nixon, “The Real World”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 13–14