Don't Live Every Day as if it's Your Last
How a health scare put YOLO into context
A few years back, after two good friends suffered fatal heart attacks, I booked an appointment for a calcium scan, an MRI-like procedure that detects blockage of the arteries. Then 46-years-old, I had tons of energy and worked out almost daily. So I was surprised when the test results indicated that I have coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is a serious condition that requires vigilance but can be managed pretty effectively for decades with exercise, a healthy diet, and Lipitor or other cholesterol-inhibiting statins.
Shortly after my diagnosis, I shared the news with a friend. He replied with great conviction, “Bro, you just need to live every day as if it’s your last day on earth!”
With due respect to my friend’s enthusiasm, warm intentions, and SoCal vibes, this is terrible advice. As much as it fits with the YOLO subculture’s approach to making the most out of life, none of us should conduct ourselves as if there is no tomorrow. It’s a bad idea on many levels.
Living each day as if it’s your last is a self-fulfilling proposition. Just ask the extreme athletes who died performing stunts for Red Bull: they went sky-diving and heli-skiing, then learned the hard way that—contrary to the brand slogan—Red Bull does not give you wings. These brazen competitors did some crazy-cool shit, but now they’re dead.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m all for living life to the fullest, but part of that equation means staying alive as long as possible. The other day, a friend of mine posted to Facebook an inspirational quote from Amelia Earhart. It read: “Use your fear. It can take you to the place where you store your courage.”
Here’s another, more recent Amelia Earhart quote: “Arrrrrrggghhhhh!!!!! I should have listened to my fear!”
(Now’s a good time to share this post with friends who have a wicked sense of humor…)
Okay, that’s a little mean, and I acknowledge that we’re still talking about her 83 years after her death, so she was obviously a courageous trailblazer. But think of how much more she would have accomplished if she had stuck around another few decades, or at least into her mid-forties.
To be clear, I don’t recommend covering yourself in bubble wrap and taking shelter in a germ-free saferoom. Daily interactions with the world require some risk-taking (I almost got run over the other day by a teenager on a Bird scooter in the Kroger parking lot). However, accepting that we will die and inviting an early death are two very different things, so let me restate my theoretical guideline more clearly:
Do stop and smell the roses.
Do tell your friends you love them.
Do practice gratitude through meditation or prayer.*
Don’t go base-jumping. In fact, if you ever find yourself strapping a GoPro camera to your chest, stop and ask yourself, “Is this a good idea?” I guarantee you it’s not.
There’s an old Southern street joke that goes like this:
Q: What’s the last thing you hear a redneck say?
A: Hey y’all, watch this!
We don’t know what this good ol’ boy is fixin’ to do, but it’s sure to be foolish. Whether he’s about to guzzle a flaming jug of moonshine or launch his F-150 over a crick, Dukes of Hazzard style, we can bet that he will end up deceased.
In the same way, when someone breaks out their GoPro, they’re screaming, “Hey Instagram, watch this!” Since nobody on Instagram is going to share a video of them doing their taxes early or prudently applying sunscreen to their ear lobes, the GoPro accurately foreshadows a premature death.
Living each day as if it’s your last isn’t just unsafe; it also threatens your legacy. How you live those final 24 hours will be the subheading on your obituary, and you don’t want it to read, “Died penniless, surrounded by strippers, and covered in vomit.”
Consider Elvis Presley. He recorded 100 gold records, starred in dozens of movies, lived in a mansion, owned limousines, and private jets, and dated Ann Margaret, Mary Tyler Moore, Cybill Shepherd, and numerous other starlets.
Yet how did the King of Rock n’ Roll spend his last day? By dying on the toilet.
Yes, we only live once, but you do not want your legacy to be “opioid-induced cardiac arrest on the crapper.” So stay off the pills, save your money, and get some fiber in your diet!
Every day is precious, the future is unknown, and life will be over way sooner than most of us think. So make it count.
But, you know, wear your seat belt.
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Find a Calcium scan provider near you. Here.
*in your own space, not on the public high school football field.