Last Fling

In times of some uncertainty, or going away, or entering upon some new venture, there is a tendency on the part of those who are young or immature, to indulge in what has come to be called one “last fling.” Unfortunately there are those who use such occasions to indulge appetites, to cut loose, as they sometimes say, and to do what they normally would not do. It haws in it something of the old and false philosophy – “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” This fallacious argument has been used many times, in many places by many people who wanted some justification for indulgence. This idea of having a “last fling” is all wrong. No man is ever going to have a “last fling.” Men are immortal, and a so-called “last fling” is just a step down on an eternal road, and there is no justification for any young man, or for anyone, no matter what the occasion or the excuse, to take the attitude that he is going to enjoy something cheap and shoddy – that he is going to throw caution and decency, and break out on one grand spree. There is always tomorrow – tomorrow morning – and eternally tomorrow – and here and eternally we’ll still have ourselves to live with, and our record to account for. And neither here nor hereafter does anyone ever get the satisfaction out of a “last fling” that he thought he was going to. This kind of escape isn’t escape at all. It is merely a piling up of difficulties, a multiplying of disappointments, an increasing of disillusionment. Even if we were sure that there were only a little of life left to live, the way to live it wouldn’t be to break all the rules. The only reasonable way would be to live so that no matter what the future holds we will have as few regrets and apologies as possible to make for the past. There is no good sense in setting out to have a “last fling,” because there is always and everlastingly tomorrow morning.