Is YOLO Bullshit?
Nowadays we’re surrounded by signs, videos, music, and people that say things like “YOLO” and “Carpe Diem”. They both kind of mean the same thing which is, you only live once or seize the moment. These types of messages are so repetitive that they become cheesy, and eventually lose their powerful meanings. I for one have always loved these sayings, I even went skydiving and wrote “You only live once” on my hands, but that’s a story for another day.
I’m only 20 years old, so I’m probably going to get a lot of mean looks from the older audience reading this, but YOLO. Life moves so freaking fast, like seriously, we just started 2019 and we’re already halfway into the year. Next time I blink, I’m probably going to be writing my 2020 new year’s resolutions. I think we can all agree I am super young and I still have a lot of life to go, but the same can’t be said for the 80-year-olds reading this.
My grandpa is one of those 80-year-olds. He’s 85 to be exact, and I tend to spend some hours with him during my weeks because I’m his personal chófer, kind of. I take him to the bank and help him pick up food at the supermarket, along with some other things we do that shouldn’t be disclosed on a public document like this one, so I’ll leaving you guessing. Spending time with him was one of the key factors that helped me to fix this idea into my mind. We talk about a lot of things, like romance, politics, religion, and life. When we talk about this last one, my mind is blown away. We talk about life from very different perspectives, he looks back on his life and I look forward to mine. His view on things is crazy because he has already gone through what for most is a full life. He tells me stories about his youth and his life story. I don’t usually regret in his stories, but when I do, it hurts. He can’t go back and redo anything, and that scares me. My second greatest fear is growing old, and my first greatest is growing old and having regrets. These conversations make me wonder about my own life, and they push me to think about what I am going to say when I’m 85. By the way, I’m making it to 100.
The truth is we’re all going to die one day, whether we like it or not. We don’t have time to waste on things that won’t matter in the long run. After I occasionally fight with my siblings, I always arrive at the conclusion that that argument won’t matter in a year, so why let it matter now. The YOLO state of mind gives us all a sense of urgency, where we review what things actually matter and what things are just part of human stupidity. If we all knew that our life would be over next year, then we would definitely start doing things that we normally wouldn’t. That’s so crazy, yet so true for many of us.
I heard a quote once that said, “You’ve always known what you had, but you didn’t think you were ever going to lose it.” That “thing” might be youth, a relationship, a loved one or an experience.
I’m too young to act like I know how hard life can be or what life’s challenges might feel like, however, I’m not going to wait until I start losing things or people in order to start valuing my life. The truth about YOLO is the following: it puts everything into perspective. We will always have a place where we need to be, people we have to see, but it helps to zoom out for a sec and realize that we are blessed to be breathing. I, personally use YOLO as a confidence and courage steroid. Whenever I am afraid of doing something, or I doubt myself, I think about my singular lifetime, and how my 85-year-old self would thank me for trying.
To conclude, I just want you to know that this writing is for both you and me. We all forget that our time on earth is temporary, and every once in a while life reminds us of how lucky we are to be alive. YOLO pushes us to stop focusing on things that waste our life and it sets our focus on things that are worth it. If you’re reading this then you have the privilege of being alive, don’t let this opportunity slip.
