Live Fast. Die Young.

Most of us woke up this morning to the tragic news that actor Paul Walker had died in a car accident yesterday. He was only 40, had a string of adrenaline pumping films to his name, and seems to have died far before his time. 

Live fast, die young? Scrolling through Facebook all I seem to see is R.I.P inscriptions, followed by the motto "live fast, die young", which seems to be some sort of copacetic way of saying that someone lived a good life. 

You took risks, had lots of fun, basked in the glitz of glamour and didn't suffer through the bitterness of old age. Aspirational? I don't know. I'm all for living in the moment, grabbing spontaneity by its hairy balls and not giving a fudge about what people think, but I'm hesitant to believe that taking risks stops at 40. 

We're obsessed with the notion of dying with a good-looking corpse. Narcissism? I'm not sure. Perhaps we're simply terrified at the prospect of reaching the bingo table at 70, with the realisation that we didn't live life in the fast lane, and consequently didn't tick off our subconscious bucket list? Eventually, a tenacity for ambition becomes an obsession with models, bottles, champagne and cocaine. Symbols of success. Yes, you reached your peak and have the bitches to prove it. YOLO baby. 

I honestly don't believe that you have to live fast to live with no regrets. I've hustled my way to a point in my life whereby I'm sorta-kinda-probably happy, and I've done so without any regrets. Friday night cocktails are a must, but I don't drink to forget who I am, where I am or what I've done. I started this journey because of a passion for being at the top of my game, and yes I've wanted to prove the haters wrong. But, I've never believed in risking your life just so that you can prove that you live with no regrets!  

That fine line of life and death is certainly an adrenaline rush, and is probably the sexiest seduction trick ever invented. You're alive and you feel in control. But, in essence, you're not. If you feel that you have to risk your soul to get to the top, then you're not alive. You're not in control; you're simply a fool. 

YOLO is not an excuse to act stupid, and live a glorified existence of fast cars, Patron and half-assed lust. It kind of leaves yucky skid-marks that stop you from living the life you're meant for. 

I'll never starve starve myself in an attempt to be hungry, and you can be damned that I'll never ever waste an opportunity to live. A youthful mindset and a mature psyche. Meet me half-way baby.