People have this thing nowadays where they are encouraging
one another to “live life to the fullest” because “life is short.” Whereas this
is true they are going about it wrong. People use this as an excuse to not live
right; to waste away their lives at parties and to throw away their responsibilities. They interpret the
saying to mean “do more of what makes you happy” and that simply isn’t correct.
If you only did what made you happy, then life would be kind
of boring wouldn’t it? In most cases in order to do what makes you happy you
have to first do what makes you unhappy.
To be a business man or lawyer you must first go through schooling. To
be an athlete you have to eat right and exercise daily. You have to miss out on
things that you’ve looked forward to, many sleepless nights studying, not
eating pizza leading up to an important competition, being away from home for
months at a time.
To me “living life to
the fullest” means try things you are scared to do. If you have an opportunity
to go sky diving, take it even though you’re scared of heights. Or if you have
an opportunity to perform in front of a crowd of people you’ve never met
before, go for it even though the thought of putting yourself out there scares
you the most (SIDENOTE: It’s actually not
that scary). It’s not about doing stupid things with your buddies because you
don’t want to feel left out. It’s about taking opportunities that you otherwise
wouldn’t have taken because you’re unsure of the outcome. Taking or leaving
those little opportunities can be all the difference in your life. Sometimes
they are even life changing. So yes, Carpe Diem, #YOLO if you will, but
remember which road leads to heaven and which to hell. Short term happiness
doesn’t always mean long term happiness.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But
small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find
it.” Matt. 7:13-14 (NIV)
