When your soul, heart, and mind are blanketed by the darkness of mental illness, you begin to think living is dreadful and hopeless. Many attempt suicide. Some succeed. Those who are suffering often think there is no way out of their inner pain and the only way is to end their lives. They often think life is not worth living if it’s meant to be such misery. What they can’t see is that recovery is possible. There is more to life than their saddened hearts can see. Life is a gift worth fighting for and worth living.
Why is life worth living? I’ll give you many reasons. Reasons that took me time to find, but I’m glad I did. These reasons kept me alive when I thought taking my life was the only way to ease my anguish. Maybe they will help you.
- There is a future waiting for you: a happy, productive, and beautiful future. You may not see it right now, but it’s there. It’s standing within the light of recovery. If you listen carefully, it’s calling to you and promising you many things. Maybe a husband, maybe good grades, maybe college, maybe a good job, and most of all, happiness. Right now you may think there is no such thing as happiness, but there is and you have to keep living to find it.
- There are new friendships to build. Right now you may feel lonely, but there are people out there who may not know it, but are ready to meet you and become your friend. We don’t know who we will one knows meet in the future, but God upstairs knows. God has special people to place in your life. Friends who will last a short time, but make a big impact, friends who may hurt you, but leave you with a lesson to learn and make you stronger, and friends who will stay at your side for many years no matter what happens.
Those special friends who stand at your side will be there no matter how many miles separate you, no matter how rough things get, and even through disagreements. Many types of friends are out there waiting for you. Forever, fleeting, and casual. They are worth living for.
- There are wonderful memories to create. Life is full of memories waiting to be made. Memories of laughter, ones of trips you may want to take, ones of babies being born (yours or ones in the family), ones with your loved ones, and many more. Memories are all around you patiently waiting for you to live them and for them to become engraved in your heart and mind. There will always be bad ones that sneak in, but the good ones stay with you forever and shine brightly when days seem bleak.
- There is true love to be found and loved ones to enjoy. If you haven’t found your one and only, he or she is out there wandering this earth looking for you. God has a special time for you to meet. He has planned it all out for you. He has picked the perfect day and time for you to meet him or her. If you’re not around, how will you ever find him or her?
Then there are the loved ones you have. The loved ones you have can be your family and also friends who are like family. They care about you very much and they need you as much as you need them. Enjoy spending time with them, laughing with them, creating those memories with them, and sharing good and bad times with them. Watching your children or nieces and nephews grow, having dinner with your grandparents or friends, having long talks with your parents, teasing your siblings, hanging out with your friend, and so on.
- There is the beauty of nature to enjoy. Quiet walks in the woods or in a park, the feel of sand between your toes, the kiss of a summer breeze, the awe of a sunset, the warmth of the sun soaking into your skin, and much more. Just enjoy the simple miracle of God’s creation.
If all of these are not worth living for then what is? Life is a precious gift from God and he has filled it with many things to make it wonderful. It may be hard to see all these wonderful reasons to live, but they are there. If you take your life, you’ll never get a chance to find them and enjoy them. Fight your illness with all that’s in you, fight to live your life and fight to see what lies ahead of you. Think hard of all you would miss if you took your life, and reconsider. Life is a wonderful thing that should be nourished and lived to the fullest. So I say to you, live as if you have never lived before and strive to live life to the fullest.
I’m glad I never succeeded in taking my life. Because I chose to live, I watched my nieces and nephews grow up, I met the love of my life, I have held my great niece while I waited for another one to come, I have created many memories, I have celebrated my Grandma’s ninety-first birthday with her, and much more. Life is worth living and since I have chosen to live it to the fullest, I stand in the light.
aimee eddy 