YOLO

479 words

 

Recently, I came across a picture of me and my sister on our family vacation spelling YOLO with our hands. We were on the balcony of our hotel with an amazing view of the ocean. As I looked out into the rolling waves and, I must admit, checking out the life guards, I realized we were experiencing something that I will never forget. There were many things that I declined to participate in to go on this vacation but in my opinion, it was worth it. I got to experience things I had never experienced before with people I love.

YOLO. I’m pretty sure that anyone reading this knows what it means. But just in case you don’t, it stands for You Only Live Once. There are a lot of interpretations of the phrase. Some people think that you can use it for an excuse for doing something stupid. Others say YOLO means, go out, get drunk, and party yourself sick. YOLO. For some it means be reckless because you don’t get another chance.  But for others, it may mean that you put your whole heart into what you are doing. To me, YOLO means you only have one life so get as much out of it as you can. At least I think that’s what Mae West meant when she said, “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”  

For example, I am on my school’s JV volleyball team and I am also the Drum Major for my high school marching band. I love both things and both activities give me the chance to reach out and help others to reach their full potential. My schedule may be like dominos, with one thing leading right into the next, but I am getting the most out of my day.  

Another example is my friend and her parents decided that this past summer they were going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She is also a volleyball player but she committed all her time to training for the climb. How many of you can say that? I know I can’t! My summer consisted of volleyball, church, and marching band. I wouldn’t have had time to do anything like that.

I think that YOLO should be changed to YOHOC (not sure how you would say that though…..) to stand for You Only Have One Chance. You only have one chance at life right? Unless you are one of those people who say they died, went to heaven, pushed the return button, and came back, we all only have one life here on earth. So why would you waste that on partying or doing really stupid things that could jeopardize the long life you could have.

So basically what I’m trying to say is YOLO is making the best out of every day, no matter what circumstances you’re given.

 

~Skooogster(: