This is the pro argument on YOLO.  To view the con argument, click here.

Going skydiving. YOLO. Playing hide and seek with Helen Keller. YOLO. Using the term YOLO. YOLO.

In case you live under a rock and haven’t noticed, the term YOLO, an acronym for “you only live once,” has popped up everywhere.  While the saying has been used for decades, it recently became popular after rapper Drake released a song, “The Motto,” that used the term.

It has become a phenomenon on social network sites like Facebook and Twitter for teenagers to use YOLO as reasoning for their actions. I’m all for it.

The term YOLO can be used in all sorts of contexts. Most uses of YOLO start out like “not doing my homework, YOLO.” Shirking your responsibilities every once and awhile to do something you love should not be frowned upon. All work and no play is not good for anyone. People have gotten more creative with it as well. Now you mostly see Twitter spammed with things like “riding my dinosaur to school, YOLO.”

YOLO has become a source of hilarious jokes. There is a Twitter account called YOLO jokes. People know they only live once, but these accounts remind people to do fun things and live it up.

While some people may say that YOLO is an excuse for people to do stupid things, the term is just great encouragement for people to face their fears and try things they may have otherwise not tried. If a girl is scared of rollercoasters, her friends might convince her to go on one because of YOLO, and she might end up loving it. Helping a girl conquer her fear is not going to hurt anyone. It’s actually going to help someone. That’s not peer pressure, that’s friendly encouragement.

People may joke about doing stupid, illegal things because they only live once, but most of the time they are not serious. It would be ridiculous to believe that half of what people say they are going to do because of YOLO is true.

YOLO is a good reminder that people shouldn’t waste their time doing things that they don’t like. You only live once, so you might as well enjoy what you do.

As long as people don’t blow YOLO completely out of proportion, it’s a good motto. The saying was created long before Drake to tell young people to live their life to the fullest. To all the people who are against YOLO, why waste your time hating on a saying?  YOLO.

Emily Clarke is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com