I suppose it might be cynical, and also go against the spirit of the topic I myself brought up, but our peers who did all the same stupid shit we did and didn't survive... well, they're here to talk about it, are they? So it's only logical that the ones who survived are the ones here to tell the tale, and the law of averages says that there will be a few.
I saw this movie a long time ago called Cherry 2000. Typical post-apocalyptic crapfest where 99% of the population is gone and those who are left live in anarchy. The main bad guy, Lester, leads a bunch of thugs around the wastelands on quadrunners. They do what they want, take what they want, because there's no one to stop them.
There's this one scene where they're up on a hill, revving the quads, getting ready to do some raping and pillaging, and he looks at his buddies and says:
"Remember... Life Is Adventure!"
The character was meant to be dispicable of course, but I was like 12 years old and what stuck with me was the attitude. Life is adventure. You do what you have to do to keep going, and do what excites you and gives you a kick otherwise. You don't know what's coming, and you sure as hell don't know when it'll all end, so have your fun now. The only thing I would add is that you do all this without stomping on someone else's rights, but otherwise that's where I'm at. Experience everything you can. Do everything you can, see everything you can. You get one shot... make it a good one. It's only later that you realize how stupid it might have been, but some would say that a short, exciting, full life beats a long boring one.