There’s an old Latin phrase we all know, Carpe Diem. We translate that to “seize the day.” But the rest of the phrase is seize the day-trusting as little as possible in tomorrow. That’s the part that often gets left out.
The meaningful parts of life require trust or faith in tomorrow. Things like marriage, children, friendships, starting a business or even learning to make really good sourdough. Maybe I’m crazy, but we seem to have lost some faith in “tomorrow.” I’m not saying we’ve totally given up. I’m still buying green bananas and I scheduled a colonoscopy (TMI) for June 2027. Clearly, some part of me remains optimistic.
I think it started in 2020. Once the world shut down on a random Tuesday with almost no warning, something shifted. In an instant the future was uncertain. Everything slowed to a crawl. Even if you weren’t afraid of the virus, you were afraid that the world might not ever be the same. That’s fair. Would we ever go back to the office? Would the kids ever go back to school? Would I ever see MeeMaw and PeePaw again?
We were told all of this was temporary, “just two weeks to stop the spread”. Then weeks turned into months and, well, you know the rest of the story. When it lifted, we moved on like it never happened. But it did.
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The virus didn't invent short-term thinking. Americans were perfectly capable of buying cars, trucks and boats they couldn't afford before anyone had heard of Wuhan. But the pandemic gave short-term thinking a double shot of espresso with a sidecar of Fireball. After all, the future is unpredictable. Life is short. Might as well. Go for it.
But the future has always been unpredictable. And life has always been short. Maybe I’m crazy, but we seem to have lost faith in “tomorrow” at a time when we are living longer than any generation in history.
But, today there is no delayed gratification. With every purchase you are now offered a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) option. It’s like a modern version of the Lay-Away Plan. Except you get to take the stuff right away. In 2019 it was used for 6% of purchases. Today it’s 16%.
BNPL hands “future me” the bill for that new Apple iPhone 16 without letting “future me” vote on the purchase. It’s an example of how we are willing to gamble that we’ll have the money in the future. But, cmon, you and I both know that if you don’t have the money today you aren’t likely to have the money tomorrow either. Not surprisingly, 26% of BNPL users were delinquent in 2025.
The fear here isn’t purely financial. Carpe diem is a nice idea but it originated in 23 BC, back when the average life expectancy was about the same as my wiener puppy, Peanut. You kinda had to seize the day cause you didn’t really get that many days to begin with. Trusting in the future was kind of a fool’s errand.
Peanut, the wiener dog
But today, the meaningful parts of life require an investment in the future. Things like marriage, children, friendships, starting a business or even learning to make really good sourdough. Nobody on their deathbed ever says “I sure am glad I bought that iPhone 16 I couldn’t afford in 2026.
It’s ironic that we are “investing” so little in ourselves at a time when most people are living longer than ever. And, as you and I both know, Father Time is undefeated. And right now everyone is getting extra innings.
A culture of delayed gratification requires more than lectures about discipline. It requires confidence in the future. Not in the government providing for you, but in you providing for you.
I’m not suggesting we should go back to the days of yore or pretending that something didn’t happen to us in 2020. It did. We learned the hard way that normal is more fragile than it looks. But that’s not a reason to ignore the mess you are creating for “future you”. Seizing the day and trusting as little as possible in the future feels good at the moment. But, in the blink of an eye, future you will be dealing with the consequences.
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