Momservation: A life well-lived is a life of no regrets.
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I don’t do resolutions because life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.
I do subscribe, though, to living the best life possible—because as far as we know, this could be our one shot at enjoying the human experience.
I’ve lived the YOLO (You Only Live Once) philosophy long before celebrities began tattooing it on themselves to permanently brand themselves as hipsters and teenagers began using it as Twitter hashtags and an excuse to make bad decisions. I earned my YOLO perspective by surviving personal tragedy.
I don’t use the YOLO philosophy to fuel extreme risks or give me seven seconds of insane courage to step outside my comfort zone. I use it to remind me that if my story ends tomorrow, would it be a good read? Would I be satisfied with my ending? Or would I be throwing popcorn at the flashback screen of my life, yelling at it frustration like a bad horror movie because I missed the obvious?
The obvious being: Tomorrow isn’t promised. Make the most of today.
For those of you who just can’t let a new year start without a resolution, how about joining me in my quest to enjoy the human experience with the possibility of writing the perfect ending:
5 YOLO Resolutions for 2016
- Cut someone out of your life. Don’t let someone else’s toxic negative energy unbalance your positive energy. Life is too short to waste it in the company of Debbie Downers. If you can’t cut that Negative Nelly out of your life, then insulate yourself with positive relationships to keep their negative weight from throwing your balance off.
- Book a trip. If we waited until we could afford to go or could find the time, we’d never go anywhere. Make it happen. No shoulda, coulda, woulda’s. Cause I know for myself, if I suddenly find myself on the Other Side and I never got to go see the kaleidoscope colors of a New England fall or the magic and mystery of the Northern lights—I have a feeling I could still taste the regret in Heaven.
- Call everyone you’ve been meaning to call. For all of us who seem to say much too frequently: “I haven’t talked to (fill in the blank) in a long time. I should really call them. I’m pretty busy today though. Maybe tomorrow,” and before you know it weeks, days, months, even years pass. It’s time to cue up that Garth Brooks song If Tomorrow Never Comes and imagine the regret you’d feel if you didn’t get a chance to let that special someone know you were thinking them. So call Grandma, your brother, your best friend from high school today.
- Let your children fail. This is the generation of coddled kids with hovering helicopter parents who try to solve all their problems for them. Land the helicopter and let them be in charge of their own destiny—bumps, bruises, and all. Adversity builds character. Problem solving creates independent thinkers. Disappointment and craving something we don’t have creates desire and ambition to succeed. Let your children learn to climb out of life’s valleys just in case you’re not there to hoist them up.
- Say sorry. It’s impossible to go through life without a trail of mistakes. We can pretend they didn’t happen, sweep them under the rug, or avoid confrontations all in an effort to elude facing our mistakes and the discomfort of having to say “Sorry.” But if it were all to end tomorrow, life quickly falls into perspective. And I guarantee, from personal experience, that “sorry” would be the first word you’d be eager to hand out. So why wait? Do it now.
#NoRegrets