Imagine this, I ask you to go on a trip to France - I tell the date of your arrival, but hide the date of departure from you. Now, it’s certain that you will reach France, but it is uncertain when you will be called back, what is the most obvious thing that one would do? Anyone and everyone would want to try and experience everything they possibly can! They would make plans of sights to see, things to do and dishes to eat and would want to a checkmark on every possible aspiration on the bucket list.
C’est la vie. This is life.
We know our arrival date on this planet, but none of us are aware when we will be asked to leave this place. Thus emphasising on the quintessential necessity that time is limited so one needs to make use of it well. You Only Live Once / #YOLO / Carpe Diem (for nerds), all these names for this one thing - one idea - one concept, which practically blows people’s minds away. So what is this concept that everyone is so in love with?
"Y-O-L-O!" This war cry is often followed by a head-first approach into any risky situation ranging from cliff-jumping to starting one’s own business from scratch. Having said that, the YOLO concept is majorly seen in a positive light when people use to pump themselves to go beyond what is expected out of them by both, the people around and they themselves.
Most millennials, especially Indians, go through the same run-of-the-mill cycle reinstating the belief that one needs to first study, get good grades, followed by a decent paying job and then having a stable life post marriage to enjoy and reap the benefits post-retirement. The concept has been deeply ingrained in the mind of the youth which has led to an increase in the bar of satisfaction level of the youth and what they want from their lives. This enormous expectation from their lives has led to an increase in stress, panic attacks and most importantly, depression cases across the nation.
Youth, today, considers that the competition is cut-throat and the situation is do-or-die, they think that much like You Live Only Once, it equates to the fact that one gets opportunities only once. This belief makes one greedier, competitive, and less of a human and more of an emotionless and heartless machine that operates from victory to victory without stopping to enjoy for anything.
One needs to understand that it is equally important to know and set expectations well and be productive more than being busy. Gen-X needs to understand two major things – one, YOLO doesn’t mean the end of rational thinking and second, it doesn’t mean jumping into the pool of tasks.
YOLO merely facilitates one to start understanding that if one person with the same set of 24 hours x 365 days can achieve a result, then so can you. It allows one to dig deeper into the hard reality of lifetime and tide wait for none.
In one of her interviews, Priyanka Chopra was quoted as saying that there is a reason why she is dominating the globe these days – it is the ability to manage time well and not put a limit on oneself regarding the number of things one can do or accolades that one can achieve.
Her example suits the scenario of YOLO much more than anyone else’s because she understands that the only limit we set upon ourselves are the ones we make for ourselves. Once we get rid of the limits and understand that the amount of time we have is definite – not less or more – but quantifiable and definite is when we will understand the true importance of
‘Seizing the Day’.
Thus, this phrase, if understood and used in the most basic and positive sense, reinforces the belief that we have to maximise our potential by judiciously utilizing the resources and time in our hands to checkmark the tasks we need to perform to reach the zenith of our skill and talent.
You live only once, why not live to the fullest?