The term yolo, you only live once, is a phrase uttered around pop culture and young individuals. On campuses you'll hear students using this acronym often. As we all know life is extremely short. I just celebrated my 21st birthday and am shocked because I remember my 13th birthday like it was yesterday.

There are many distractions in the world that make us frustrated, preoccupied and stressed. I found during my first three years in college that in order to be successful in my studies and in life it is important to take personal time and breaks from the everyday monotony of life. There have been things in the past that I've really wanted to try, or an event I wanted to attend, or a restaurant I wanted to go to but I have always put it off. I continued to tell myself I was too busy or too tired.

But then the term yolo started to appear in everyday conversations. You'd hear students talking about the Seattle Mariners game, and contemplating whether to go to their game on a school night with 8 am class the next morning. All of a sudden BANG! One student says “YOLO lets go”. After that they all proceeded to attend the Mariners game in full Mariners attire and enjoyed the night. Although a little tired the next morning they had an absolute blast at the game.

Yolo is no scientific term but I think it should be taken as a serious philosophy on how to live a happy life. We do only live once at this exact time in our lives. I've regretted nights where I've stayed in while my friends go out, and I'm kicking myself now for not being more involved. If only yolo would've been a term back then when I had a mountain of excuses as to why i couldn't participate in an activity or event.

Yolo is an important philosophy because it pushes individuals out of their comfort zone and almost creates a guilty conscience on ones shoulders for wasting time. For me, I hate wasting time because it is so valuable and we can’t regain time we’ve lost. So when I sit at home or in my room not taking part in activities that my friends are I feel like I’m wasting time. I think of the phrase “yolo” and a sudden sense of guilt comes over me and I feel like I’m wasting valuable minutes of my life just sitting around doing nothing. The thought of only living once at this moment in time makes me forgive those who have hurt me easier, it has made getting angry a complete after thought, it has made feeling sad like a waste of time, it has made happiness feel so much sweeter, and has made my days more fulfilling.

Who would have ever thought an acronym like yolo could have such an impact on our lives and living our lives to their absolute fullest.