Elbert Hubbard - "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive."

Welcome to The Daily Quote – I'm Andrew McGivern.

Today's quote comes from Elbert Hubbard, who said:

"Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive."

Read that again. You will never get out of it alive.

That's the punchline. And it's also the truth.

Hubbard's making a darkly humorous point: no matter how seriously you take life, no matter how stressed you get, no matter how much you worry and control and obsess – the ending is the same for everyone.

So why are you making yourself miserable in the middle?

Taking life seriously has its place. Your work matters. Your relationships matter. Your goals matter.

But taking life TOO seriously? That's when you lose perspective. That's when you forget that none of this is permanent. That mistakes aren't fatal. That embarrassment fades. That most of what you're stressed about won't matter in a year.

We treat temporary problems like permanent catastrophes. We agonize over things that won't matter next month. We let small failures ruin entire days.

And for what? You're not getting out of this alive anyway. None of us are.

Hubbard isn't saying nothing matters. He's saying lighten up. Laugh more. Take risks. Make mistakes. Embarrass yourself. Try the thing that might not work.

Because the worst-case scenario isn't that serious. You're mortal either way. Might as well enjoy the ride.

So here's the question: What are you taking too seriously right now? What temporary problem are you treating like a permanent catastrophe?

Because you're not getting out of this alive. None of us are. So you might as well lighten up and enjoy it while you're here.

That's it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern – I'll see you in the next one with another Daily Quote.