10 realest reasons why #YOLO doesn’t mean you’re living life to the fullest

When someone tells you to live life to the fullest, we often think of doing extreme activities, which in short means YOLO. Activities such as bungee jumping, skydiving, hiking Mt Everest or swimming in Queen’s bath at Kauai are definitely on your bucket list if you love extreme sports.

But does that really mean living life to the fullest? They may be fun and an unforgettable experience but these activities shouldn’t be everything to a “fulfilling life”.

Here are 10 realest reasons doing #YOLO activities don’t mean you’re living life to the fullest.

It’s becoming a trend
With all the social media hype about doing such activities, extreme sports are gaining much popularity among the young. They believe that they have to do these things in order to show people that they are living life to the fullest, and not your average dull boring next door boy or girl.

You may not even like it
If you’ve always been a fan of extreme sports, good for you. You’ll get to experience lots of new adventures. But if the thought of skydiving has never crossed your mind until you see an Instagram post telling you, you have never lived unless you did it, then you’re getting it wrong. Why are you letting a photo tell you that you were wrong about living?

It’s good for exposure but doesn’t mean its mandatory
Reading stuff like these is meant for exposure, but it doesn’t mean it’s mandatory. You don’t have to keep telling yourself you should be like that friend who went bungee jumping with captions like “finally took risks for once in my life.”

People are looking for EVERY chance to do it
Like when you’re planning a trip with your squad, and they insist that you all must go bungee jumping, skydiving, trekking the mountains and swimming with sharks. It’s just too much. TOO MUCH.

You don’t gain real things after doing it
What many fail to understand is you only gain fun and experience after doing those things. They have to spare us the “I found myself through swimming in the most dangerous sea” pep talk.  When you do risky sports, you only think of how thrilling and fun it is. Or you could think of how you will end up dying instead.

They’re dangerous
If doing something puts your life at risk, how is that living life to the fullest? You probably wouldn’t even last till 30, because you’re dead. But some people believe in a short life filled with “adventures” rather than a long life of “dull and boringness.”

They’re expensive
You’ll need tons of money if you’re going for the bungee jumping and skydiving and mountain trekking and swimming with sharks itinerary.

It’s shallow
Saying you live life to the fullest by doing YOLO activities, it just says that much about you. You live life to the fullest by appreciating little things in your daily life, by learning how to treat people right, by doing meaningful things with no regrets; perhaps like volunteering yourself in Africa or even by buying tissue from the handicapped Uncle outside the mall. Of course, you should go travel and stuff before you can’t, but your bucket list shouldn’t just be filled with YOLO extreme activities.

Taking risks – what risks means
The risks you should be taking doesn’t mean only doing thrills. Getting our of your comfort zone can also mean going out to live by yourself, stop taking allowance from your parents for once, taking a career risk of venturing into your own business. You take a risk to express an honest opinion or open yourself to love. Climbing new mountains was actually a metaphor before people took it literally.

Ensure you have insurance
You’d better make sure you’re covered by your Insurance while doing those things – if not you’re not going to “live life to the fullest,” and you know, life is unpredictable.

So remember, just because you’re too scared to take any risks in extreme activities doesn’t mean you’re a loser. Or not living life to the fullest.

Top Image: Mauricio Graiki / Shutterstock.com

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com