YOLO, an acronym that’s been popular among mostly younger people for the past year or so, stands for “You Only Live Once.” It seems to be an excuse for risky behavior. Have they forgotten you actually get to live every day, but you only die once? The sentiment is a recent version of “Carpe Diem.” Seize the Day.What if you knew that your death was imminent? Is there a message that would die with you? Do you know what words you want as your legacy?That was the question facing Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, who gave a last lecture, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died in 2008, but his book, The Last Lecture, allows his words to live on (the audio version is great for the car). (video of the Last Lecture, 76 minutes)
What is your message? What do you care about? What legacy do you want to leave?Why wait? YOLO.