Many people miss out on events in their family or friends’ lives that will only happen either once or only for a certain amount of time. Although some are prevented from going to these events due to work or other unfortunate circumstances, I do not believe simply not wanting to drive 15 minutes or an hour is a valid excuse.

For example, my biological father missed out on about 50 chorus concerts during my entire singing career from elementary school to college, my high school graduation, at least 15 softball games and at least 15 volleyball games because he would rather go play pool and drink with his buddies.

Basically, he missed out on seeing his daughter grow up so that he could crack open a cold one with the boys.

I’ve caught myself with this mindset of “I can’t go do that because it would take up my entire day,” and now my mindset is totally different. If there was anything I’ve learned through searching the crowd for my family members at various softball games, volleyball games and performances, it would be that there is nothing that beats seeing your loved ones supporting you.

It is important to be cautious when missing important things of your siblings or relatives because you decide to sit at home or go spend time with a boyfriend instead. Believe me when I say people will see your social media posts of you at home or doing whatever other activity instead of supporting them, and they will remember it forever.

Sometimes it is easy to fall into a routine of not going to do things or accepting invites because you don’t want to stay up late, ruin a diet, or God forbid, not play pool league for one night.

Get out of your comfort zone and go do the things you try to give yourself 16 reasons not to do. Instead, try giving yourself 16 reasons why you should go do that thing instead of staying in bed and watching Netflix until the sun rises.

You may be tired the next day. You may have to eat a salad or a burger without a bun to stay on track for your diet, and you may spend money on gas, but the memory will be permanent.

There is a difference between events and invites being out of your spectrum of availability and you choosing to not attend them by making excuses.

My advice after this busy semester is to go and do things. I wish I went out with my friends and was tired the next day instead of staying home trying to be “responsible.” Sometimes it is OK to not be the most responsible for the sake of memories and bonding with people with whom you have limited time.

I’m not trying to advise everything being validated by “YOLO.”

I believe it’s important to consider if you will regret missing out on things before you automatically decide to say no and miss them, because you cannot go back and make up for memories missed.

Liz Stephens is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at ejstephens2@eiu.edu.