I recently ended a correspondence with a friend not with “Love” or “Yours truly” but

“LMSM, Don.”

To me, the salutation has become a near reflexive way of summarizing most of my notes and communications to family and friends with something eminently more meaningful, powerful and true.

Let’s face it, “Love” isn’t exactly how we feel toward all with whom we communicate. Not that its absence means “I don’t love you,” but just that used so frequently, the power of the single most important word in any language is overused and watered down from its true intent.  “Yours truly”…well, who says that anymore? We learned it way back in our typing class books as a nice but “truly” vague way of signing off during frantic tests of our typing speed. And what exactly does “truly” mean?

I digress.

I’m pretty much as far from being a trendsetter or follower as one can get.  I have always cherished originality and creativity way too much to get trapped in the insignificance of memes.  The latest trend, it seems is the “YOLO” abbreviation for You Only Live Once.  This one, in particular, strikes a sad chord for me in that it is inherently selfish, an unfortunate reflection of our life and times.  The digital internet age and the increasing pace of our society  has us searching for the easiest, most expedient ways of communicating our thoughts and sentiments.

“YOLO, Don.” or “You only live once, Don.”

For most of us, it’s trendy but meaningless.  But when something like YOLO catches on, it’s like a spark in a forest that soon becomes all the rage of a fire, but will soon and inevitably so, burn itself out, only to be replaced by yet another.

LMSM.  I suppose this is my proposal for replacing the burnt out YOLO with something that is more universally true, uplifting and hopeful.  It reflects a hope for all humanity and an intention of the user as a gesture of corporate goodwill.

Maybe it will catch on.

Will you make it yours…truly?

LMSM,

Don

Because Life Means So Much.

It truly does.

#LMSM