Have you ever heard the phrase, “YOLO”? It’s an abbreviation for “You Only Live Once”. When it’s said, however, has the person saying it really thought about it? I mean really thought about it? While sitting at a salon with my wife, I overheard another beautician talking with her client about this phrase and it starting making me think, “Do we really only live once?”
Today (June 6, 2019) is the day we remember the 75th anniversary of “D-Day”, the storming of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France that led to many alliances, including the U.S., Canada, France, and many others, defeating Hitler’s Nazi regime of Germany and providing freedom to many then and now. Our live could look a whole lot different if we hadn’t one. Thousands of men lost their lives on this day, many only 18-years old and having never been anywhere further than their own hometown. Today, there are only a handful of veteran survivors left that could join in the remembrance of the friends and fellow comrades they lost that fateful day. The survivors were dubbed “the greatest generation” of people to have lived. After fighting this bloody battle, those that returned home started families and many industrial facilities and jobs that have shaped the generations to follow and what we now know.
Do you think these veterans, and those that lost their lives, ever thought, “What the heck, you only live once”? Maybe.
“I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and do good while they live.” – Ecclesiastes 3:12
Let’s take a look at “YOLO” and see what we can come up with. Living once would mean that you only have one life to live – to be honest, you do. However, with that life, what do you have to live for? Hmmm…you have yourself, family, friends, maybe a job, and toys (houses, cars, boats, etc.). But is that enough for us? Is YOLO just an excuse to keep striving for anything and everything at any cost? Some may think or even believe so. But, I would like to interject with another thought – what if living once meant living “once each day”? What do I mean by this? We are given each day as a blessing and no one knows when their last day will be. If we have each day to live, that would mean we live days and days until we don’t. That, then, would then mean – “You Only Die Once” (YODO). This is more true than not, right? You can’t come back to life, right? Only one person in history has done that – our Lord Jesus Christ!
So, the next time you are wanting to use the phrase “YOLO”, maybe think about the fact that yes, we only have one life, but we have each and every day to live that life and do good while we are here. We only have one life to give to the glory of God!
A Breath of Fresh Air 