#Hashtag

“I find,” Clent murmured after a pause, “that it is best to treat borrowed time the same way as borrowed money. Spend it with panache, and try to be somewhere else when it runs out.” ~Eponymous Clent

I absolutely love this quote from Fly by Night by Francis Hardinge. And, fun fact if you’re interested in languages: this quote translates into modern English as “YOLO.”

In case you have been living in the mountains for the past few years, YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once,” and it has become the hashtag for doing stupid things. (No, mountain person, I’m not going to explain hashtags to you. Figure that one out yourself.)

The thinking behind this is that we are young, and we have one life, so… we should make bad decisions?

… For the sake of telling interesting stories later?

Mmmmokay.

That’s not what it should mean.

Speaking as a teenager, I know for a fact that one of the things we hate the most is being treated like children. But if we act like children, then why shouldn’t we be treated as such? If we want to spend so much time asserting our youth with childish actions, then we kind of deserve the down-talk our generation gets.

I’m not talking “acting like children” when we go see Monsters Univeristy in theaters (no judgment, I did that the other day) or when we blow bubbles in public (even less than no judgment) or when we read kids’ lit just to feel like a nine-year-old again (one of the best things you can do). I’m talking about a lack of foresight. I’m talking about doing things without a thought of others or for the consequences; I’m talking about doing things for the sake of mere rebellion.

Child-like innocence is lovely, child-like joy is radiant, and child-like wonder is magical. Child-like reasoning is something no one desires.

One of my favorite scripture verses is 1st Timothy 4:12, which says,

^{” Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”}

Let no one look down on you because you are young; but first, what I need to remember is to not give people a reason to look down on me because I am young.

Because, lesbihonest: #YOLO is not a bad thing.

YOLO is a good reason to live intentionally, to do good, and to have fun.

However, YOLO is not a good reason to act like a moron.

To quote Bill Copeland,

“How strange to use ‘You only live once’ as an excuse to throw it away.”

YOLO is a reminder to make the most of your life, and neither YOLO nore youth is an excuse to do thoughtless things. Or, at least, they’re not good ones.

Youth is given to us as an on-ramp to being adults, and if we’re not speeding up properly, we’re gonna get run over when we hit the parkway. It’s gonna be a mess, and we’re gonna back up traffic for hours, and everyone who has to take a detour is going to grumble and curse our names as they attempt to maneuver a new route. They’ll probably be late for dinner because of us. That’s not something anyone wants on their conscience.

…

That metaphor ran away with me.

Sorry about that.

Let me try again.

*clears throat*

You Only Live Once.

And my greatest wish is that none of us be remembered as the person who didn’t care about it.