YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE(YOLO)

By: Owolabi K. Kuburah.


It has become a tradition to social media users to subscribe to certain slang which will trend for some period of times.
However, one slang which is called 'YOLO' has been an ubiquitous slang expression for quite a long time on the blogosphere and it has negatively influenced the way of lives of many people.
'YOLO'  is a popular slang which means "You Only Live Once".




You'd see most people saying "Death is inevitable, I don't even know if I'd die tomorrow so let me rest and enjoy every minute of my life to the fullest. 'I cannot comman kill myself',  let me buy whatever I can buy now,eat everything I can eat now and have fun now so I'd have no regret when I'm  dead"— That's the mentality of most people who believe in this idea of YOLO.

This slang 'YOLO'  ( You Only Live Once)  has led some people into spendthrift, laziness, Fornication, drug addiction, recklessness and other social vices.
Although, it's true that every living organism lives once  but how do you intend to live?.
You only live once then do you want to live like you've never existed before?Do you want to live your life spending money wastefully because you know you only live once while thousands of people are living in poverty and millions are dying of hunger?
You only live once then you'd live your life redundantly while others struggle to become successful.
You only live once then you'd live your life partying all day, engaging in premarital sex, illegal dealings, portraying pictures of your fake life while the clock ticks every second moving you closer to your death?





It's an indisputable fact that we only live once, it's what everyone knows but what most people fail to realize is that some people live on, even after death. You should know life doesn't end with people dying even  some people live on after they are dead. That's why we have heroes that are being celebrated up till today even though they are dead.
 
We have the trustworthy prophet  prophet Mohammed (PBUH) who has died for past one thousand four hundred years yet Muslims remember him everyday due to his impact. Of course he is dead, yet he lives on.
Jesus Christ who is regarded as the savior and every moment he is being celebrated though he died yet he lives on.
Considering the fact that prophet Mohammed ( PBUH) and Jesus Christ are special creatures then what about scrupulous humans like such as: Abraham Lincoln, The first president of United States of America; Mary Slessor, the brave woman who stopped the killing of twins; Albert Einstein, Father of physics; Nelson Mandela, great hero of South Africa; Martin Luther King Jr, great hero who advocated equality amongst americans; Doctor Stella Adadevoh, An individual who sacrificed her life for the Ebola patients during the Ebola outbreak. Also Patriotic politicians like Nnamdi Azikwe, Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo and to mention but few among helped Nigeria gained her independence and many other influential individuals who have lived their lives to serve their country, who have impacted positively on the lives of many people, who have served humanity diligently and left their footprints in the heart of the world that even death couldn't erase it. Yet, you keep chanting YOLO.



To buttress my point that it's not about money only, One Arabic poet posited that, ' a knowledgeable person does not die even if their body has rotten in the soil'
The poet believes that as far as their students and their books are still existing they can never be forgotten and at such he believes that they don't die.
Behold the likes of Dan Brown, George Orwell, Chinua Achebe, Ola Rotimi — who wrote many books which students up till this era still benefit from their books.
You can also use your talent to benefit humanity and you will never be forgotten.



Ali Banat ( May his soul rest in peace) was a very wealthy man, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer all over his body, he knew his death was around yet he didn't engage in YOLO mentality where he'd spend every penny he has earned recklessly, because he didn't want to have any regret when he's dead, rather he decided to right his ways, stop his wealthy lifestyle and make good impact, rather than let death took him away forever, he decided to do something that would make him live on, he decided to leave his footprints in the heart of the world. He helped the poor, he gave out his wealth to the less privilege, he built mosque so people can go there to pray and then he died. Of course he died not as a rich man who would be remembered for some days then forgotten, he died as a man who would forever be remembered as someone who gave his all to humanity and that's why even after his death, he will be celebrated and same goes to other other heroes like him.

 
It's not until when somebody is immensely  rich,  that they can help humanity and make positive impact.
You can carve your name in the heart of the world by starting from within, start with yourself, your family and friends.
 Impact positively on the lives of those that surround you, be useful, be kind, live for a purpose, help anyone with whatever you have—not necessarily money, change your mentality towards YOLO, tell yourself you'd not only live once, you'd live forever.
Remember, heroes, real women, real men, real slayers, real nigga and real kids live on.

You only live once everyday. So for each day, how do you want to be remembered?