Y.O.L.O

You Only Live Once

“You Only Live Once”, or, as my generation has deemed it, “YOLO”, has become one of the most popular sayings in our society over the past year. This term has become so popular among teens and young adults that it has gotten difficult to go even a day without hearing or seeing “YOLO” in some fashion. Whether at the movies or the mall on a weekend, or even just on Facebook or Twitter, the term “YOLO” seems to pop up all around us. It has truly become a movement among so many of America’s young people, and for all the wrong reasons. Popularized by a song called the “The Motto”, which was released back in 2011, this term, “YOLO”, has become so much more than just a saying that people mutter to themselves before getting on a huge roller coaster at Six Flags. It is no longer just something that people say to their friends just before taking their first bite of the “Blazing Challenge” at Buffalo Wild Wings. “YOLO” has literally become a way of life for thousands upon thousands of young people in America. On any given day, a person can log onto Facebook or Twitter and see many status updates or tweets saying things like, “Crazy night last night haha don’t remember half of it! Oh Well! #YOLO”. Or another classic one is, “It’s the weekend! I’m finally off work! Time to get faded! #YOLO”. As I read these statuses I just think to myself, “Really?, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Are you serious?” I mean, in the mind of many young people, the term “YOLO” has become a legitimate motivation, and justifiable reason to get wasted, cause destruction, do hard-core drugs and have sex as much as possible. Now, I know that all of those activities were obviously prevalent long before this “YOLO” fad, and of course the moral-free lifestyle will live long after “YOLO” is dead and gone. However, I believe that there is much more to this whole “YOLO thing” than we have seen. I honestly believe that this is something that can be used in an incredible way, we just have to look at it from a different perspective. 

So as we take a look at this “motto” that is sweeping across pop culture in America, I think that it is appropriate for us to first look at the real origin of “YOLO”, or in it’s purest form, “You Only Live Once”. This simple saying “You only live once” was actually first made popular back in the early to mid 1900’s, by none other than Mae West. Mae West (1893-1980) was a famous American Actress and Screenwriter who was very active in the entertainment industry for nearly 70 years. As it stands, Miss West is the one who gets the credit for the original thought of “YOLO”. However, when she first made this monumental statement, there was another piece of this phrase that is often forgotten about in today’s society.  The original quote from Mae West went just like this: “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough”. Awesome right? Go back and read that statement again and tell me it’s not great. This statement is so very simple, yet absolutely profound. You see, here we have the mouthwatering “YOLO” concept that is so popular today, but it’s also followed by a tasty piece of Truth-Cake. Now, I don’t know about you (and I can’t speak for Mae West because I don’t know her heart behind the statement), but for me, this statement screams “Truth”! A truth that we need to incorporate into our own lives, and help others around us grasp as well. See, just like many young people in our society are using this “YOLO” concept as a grounds for living a moral-free life, we should use it for the exact opposite. Yes, I know, this should be common sense to most of us, but sadly, many of us, even many of us Christians (myself included) struggle to take this seriously.  

We need to understand that we only have this one life to live, but even more importantly we need to start living our lives according to that knowledge. If we look In Romans 2:6-7 we see that Paul the Apostle said this, “He (God) will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.” This is such a great truth that God wants to see play out in our lives. If we follow God’s commands and live our life for him, this life will be the only one we need to live. It will be spent in eternity with Him. “You Only Live Once, but if you do it right, once is enough”, Lets take this as a spiritual challenge! In our everyday lives, Let’s focus on changing the heart behind “YOLO”. Lets take ownership of this by using “YOLO” to implement Christ-like values into our lives! Lets let “YOLO” be the motto for our lives, but let’s allow it to show Christ to everyone that we come in contact with. So next time you hear a song that brings up “YOLO” and next time you see a status update or a tweet that ends with “#YOLO”, be challenged!! Be encouraged!! Be inspired!! Be inspired to represent your creator by showing others what “YOLO” means to you!

Peace.

Love

YOLO

God Bless