The Problem with YOLO

…No

You Only Live Once (or do you?).

I’m not a fan of YOLO, and I don’t subscribe to the logic. This well-intentioned ideology that begs us to throw caution to the wind and “Just Do It,” or “live like you were dying,” or “name your favorite cliché or ad campaign and we’ll embroider it on a pillow,” is actually the root of a lot of what’s wrong with the world.

Or, at least, a lot of what was wrong with me.

Think about it—to say you only live once means you need to live large now. Forgetting for a moment that people use this to justify recklessness and stupidity, it’s also what keeps some of us on the couch in front of the TV, or rotting away in jobs that strip us of our passion, or stuck in relationships that have long-passed their expiration date. If this is it, and you could die at any moment, it really doesn’t matter what you do today.

You’re thinking, but the point is to get OFF the couch and quit the job and leave the shitty partner because life is short. And you should also do crazy things like sky dive, and take a road trip in an old convertible, and chop off all your hair, and fall in love in Paris. Do all the things that both terrify and thrill you so that you know what it feels like to be alive. That’s what YOLO means.

I know. I get that. And I agree—that’s what we should be doing.

But are we?

Most of us, if we’re honest, aren’t doing ANY of those things because we’re too busy watching other people live it up on television before climbing into bed beside a partner that doesn’t trip our triggers to catch a few winks before the six o’clock alarm ushers in another day of work where yet another eight hours of stressful, monotonous hell awaits.  At five o’clock sharp, when we’re on our second commute of the day, we promise ourselves that this—job, partner, lifestyle—is only temporary. As soon as we’ve saved enough money, or lost enough weight, or garnered enough courage we’re leaving it all in the taillights of a cherry red ragtop as we ride off into the sunset to a better life. Today is lost. Tomorrow will be better.

Sure. I’ve said that before too. I’ve also watched enough tomorrows come and go to fill a decade or more of my short, precious life.   

Now, imagine instead that you were going to live forever. Imagine that the job you’re in now was the one you were going to dedicate yourself to for the rest of your immortal life. How does that make you feel?

When I first asked myself that question, I almost crapped my pants.

What about your partner? Were you fortunate enough to find the love of your life? Do you think you could really love them forever if forever meant an eternity on this earth with no “death do us part”? Or does the prospect of immortality with your chosen mate look like an endless nightmare?

Take a look at your body and your health. If you knew you had to live in this body for thousands upon thousands of years, would you take care of it differently? Would the skin you’re wearing now still fit you in a hundred years, and would you think twice about poisoning organs that need to survive the long-haul?

In this way, I think the idea of “live like you plan to live forever” (LLYPTLF…certainly not as catchy) makes more sense than living like you only live once and that your life is short. If you knew you were sentenced to eternal life in this body, on this earth, in this life, with the people you choose to surround yourself with, wouldn’t you be more inclined to make decisions with care? Treat your body like a temple? Honor your truest self so you could wake up doing what you love with the people you love every day, forever?

Yes. Yes, I think so.

So, live like You Only Live Once if you must, but when you do, pretend that it’s forever.