Y.O.L.O.!

“You only live once that’s the motto [ ] Y.O.L.O.”

-Drake “The Motto”

Greetings folks! Welcome to another edition of “Black Man Speaks.” I’m your host, The Black Man. LOL. I kid, I kid. How cool would it be if I actually hosted a television or radio show? I think it would be fan-freaking-tastic. I’m going to add that to my “to do” list. But I digress.

Whether we’ve wanted to or not we’ve all heard “The Motto.” It could be due to the fact that it’s played 878 times a day on the radio. It could be because some rapper or another yelled it out during some inappropriate time at an awards show or church service. It very well could be the result of a caption you read on one of your friend’s or follower’s pictures of them enjoying massive amounts of overpriced liquor at a club or doing something extremely stupid that may later lead to their indictment. I like the motto; the slogan that is. However, I feel like it’s been misinterpreted, misconstrued, misused and overused, which in turn has devalued the term.

Contrary to popular belief, the concept of Y.O.L.O. isn’t a license to smoke, drink and live life recklessly. It’s not an excuse to do something you would otherwise regret but because you yell “Y.O.L.O.” afterwards excuses your behavior. No. The concept of Y.O.L.O. is a license to chase your dreams, pursuit your goals and enjoy life because we only have one life to live.

Success requires patience, hard work and perseverance to weather the storm and pass the test. Y.O.L.O. says forget waiting my turn, screw the weather and I don’t care about the test and says “it’s my money and I need it now.” You need it now to buy these bottles, to cop this new outfit, get the new iPhone and play make-believe as you pretend you got it when you really don’t. Brian Tracy said, “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking ‘What’s in it for me?’’ Y.O.L.O. people are the unsuccessful people Mr. Tracy referenced. They’re unsure of what the definition of success means and interpret it as an accumulation of stuff and good times. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things in life. There is no problem with enjoying yourself. The problem comes when that is your sole purpose in life and you’ve lost focused on bettering yourself and those around you.

Albert Pike stated, “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” Eventually the bottles will empty, the clothes will become outdated and worn and your phone will stop working. Then what will you have to show for it? What will you have leftover?

We have to get up from in front of the Xbox and the PS3 and make a change. We have to take our iPods out of our ears, or at least turn the volume down, and make a change. We need to be the change we want to see in the world, because if we wait around for someone else to do it we may be waiting forever. We have to understand that the true meaning of Y.O.L.O. is to do everything you possibly can to help yourself and others. It means that you go all out to be successful, enjoy the ride as much as humanly possible and give a hand up whenever you can. It means don’t live life recklessly because you only live once, “Y.O.L.O.!” Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!