Is YOLO your current mantra?
I have been thinking about death for quite some time now. Not the morbid, i'm-contemplating-something-bad kind of thoughts. Just the usual reflections of someone who has a lot of time to spare. I think about how it sobers the most carefree person, how it puts everyone into a somber disposition. As I browse through my Facebook timeline and saw posts after posts of heartbreak due to the loss of a basketball legend, I felt an enormous dead weight in my chest that I can't even begin to understand. The thought of knowing about a person who influenced your life in one way or another, and to have them taken away so abruptly is tragic. I felt the loss of all those people paying tribute to the man, the despair of the wife and the remaining children who received that one call which no one should never ever receive.
What of death? What could we learn from it?
One thing I know that's for sure. It is inevitable. You can view it as some monster that's lurking around the corner and let the fear impair you. Or you can see it as something that's part of your temporary journey on earth and let it invigorate you, like everyday is your last day.
YOLO... You only live once...so seize the day! Should this be our response?
Most of us, I did too for a long time, fear death because we thought it's the end. That when our physical bodies die, that's it. The tour stops here. It all ends. And so a lot of us hoard memories and experiences that we think would satiate our growing desire to live our so-called life. YOLO? This acronym had us do whatever we want to do with our lives because, indeed, we only live once and life is utterly short. One night stand? Sure, you only live once. Get drunk? Sure, you only live once. Cheat? No problem, you only live once. Go ahead...YOLO is like a permanent pass to all your earthly needs and desires. But what happens after? At the end of the day when you are locked inside your room, drunk and alone, does living your life to the fullest satisfy? In your mind, it may satisfy for one night but what about the next? What do you mean by "living life to the full?" what is "satisfaction" to you?
YOLO is like a permanent pass to all your earthly needs and desires.
Death hovers.
We can see it as the end of all things. Or believe that it's a threshold to which you take a step towards the eternal journey that you've decided on. Heaven or Hell. These are absolutes, like that dollar sign that you put on Excel formulas. It would never budge, would never change. How you view death is dependent on whether you believe in Heaven or Hell. How you view Life relies on a belief that there is a single God who knows if you deserve Heaven or Hell. A loving God, but holy and just.
How you view Life relies on a belief that there is a single God who knows if you deserve Heaven or Hell.
So how are you going to live your life? Will you cower and be stagnant? Live life to the full according to the world's standards? Or live for God as though it's your last?