In my personal opinion, suicide is never something that is or can be justified. Now I do not judge anyone for it, nor condemn them either, but it is not something I can ever say is justified. I can understand why someone feels that why, the thoughts and life that leads up to it, but I do not condone suicide. I have talked to a suprising number of people who have attempted or contemplated suicide, and because of that I know a small portion of why it is different people have gotten to that point. While it is not a point I have ever reached myself, I do understand how people can get there, how the desire to escape their problems is so strong, the pain so great, that they might want to use any means possible to escape. I understand that, but I also do not feel that that justifies forfeiting their life.
One perspective that I hold is that no matter how bad your life is, no matter how hard things are or have been, someone else has had it worse. I do not in any way shape or form belittle the individual struggles we all have, and I know that I have not experienced a whole lot myself. I just simply am saying that there are others out there who have overcome worse, which proves to me that it is possible to overcome any problem or life experience. No matter what has happened, as humans we can overcome, perservere, survive. That is why I do not think we should ever give up hope.
I also know that my faith plays a large part in how I feel about this topic as well. Interestingly enough though, it is not because I am focused on the idea that if you committ suicide you cannot go to heaven or whatever. I have not studied the topic enough to have a say in that, and I am not the one to make that judgement anyways. The part that my faith plays is that in my mind, there is always hope. I have hit my own personal rock bottom, and survived it. What pulled me through was my faith. I have heard of even tougher stories and experiences, and God has pulled these people through it as well. I know that despite the depth of the circumstances and pain, my God can heal, restore, and give new life to anybody.
In my eyes, there is always another option. No matter what, we should never give up on life. We have so much to live for. Regardless the problems we face, things we must deal with, we have so much more to live for. I realize how hard it can be to see that, in the face of our problems, but that is no excuse. Especially all the people I know who have gone through these hard times, living here in America, we have no right to say our life is so bad that we should die. Our blessings far outweigh the hard times, we just have to see them. This is something I have personally come to terms with, that no matter how frustrated or tired I get, I am so immensely blessed. I know this is the same for everyone else who takes a breath today, simply because they were able to take that breath. We have no right to or reason to end our lives, when things can turn around so simply, so easily.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It is really cool that you feel this way Bryce. I love that your reasoning is through hope. I though that, but not immediately. You did prove a good point when you said that many others have gone through a lot worse. I mean, so many people now-a-days are complaining about their lives and how bad they got it. Really, people back in the first depression had it way worse than us. They knew nothing of cell phones and internet. So, instead of those kinds of things shutting off, they would actually lose food. They would have to go many days starving, let alone have t.v. to watch. People who go to kill themselves have a very weak mind. Yes, this is where faith comes in for me, and a lot of people. We may be weak, and imperfect, but through Christ, all things are possible. When you hear someone say anything is possible they are wrong. Anything is possible, THROUGH CHRIST. I would love to work with people who want to harm themselves because of how horrible they have it. Anyways, great job on the blog Bryce.
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog. I have a complete understanding of where you stand and I comprehend the same thing about suicide. I do not think anyone should commit suicide because something has drastically changed their lives. Rather than that, we should recognized that just as quick as our lives turned upside down, they can simply turn the right side up again. I have personally been a person who has had the thought about suicide. Thankfully my thoughts were enormously different then many people in the world. I never attempted suicide because every single time I thought about it, I also thought about every human being who has it worst and have fought very hard to go through their problems. Eventually that timed of my life passed on and now I thank god for every single breath I take and I also wish to have another one tomorrow. I appreciate life so much because many lives have been going to waste because of suicide while there are thousands of hospitals, such as the children’s hospital, that are full with kids and people who want to strive to take another breath each second that passes. I love life and I see no option that can take us to suicide because there are people out there who have it worst.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. And I think you had a fitting title for what you wrote about. Your title is what really caught my attention. I think if more people just cherished life, and saw it as a blessing, and something that shouldn't be thrown away as if it were trash, people would think differently before doing or attempting something so drastic. That's interesting that you've been able to talk to people who have either contemplated or attempted suicide. I'm sure you have a very good grasp as to the reasoning behind these sorts of things. I really liked that perspective that you brought out on the individual struggles or problems that a person has. That is so true, how if another person might have overcome a similar problem to what you are having, than what gives you the idea that you cannot get over or overcome the issue yourself. We can learn so much from others. I also believe that one's faith in the Lord has a great part to play in overcoming the struggles that we are faced with so often. Yes the big thing is hope, and knowing that tomorrow brings another day with more opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your opinion on suicide here. One thing I didn’t think of that you mentioned and something I do believe in myself is that regardless of who bad our lives are, there’s always someone out there who has it worse. Especially now in this economy, I may think that my own personal circumstances are just unbearable for me, but I truly am blessed for everything that I have and everything that I don’t. I may be incredibly stressed with school, but I know I’m blessed that I have this opportunity to go to college, an opportunity that many people don’t have. Things at home may be a disaster, but I’m thankful for having a roof over my head, something that many people fear to lose, if they haven’t already. I think that the driving forces to drive one to want to commit suicide are immense, but I feel that there’s always something out there that we all live for. There’s always something that we hold near and dear to our hearts that keeps us going when we feel like completely giving in. Your blog was very inspiring to me and it definitely made me think about my own personal blessings as well. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog, and as you commented on my blog you only saw one side of suicide. The act of taking your own life, for which many see is due to depression and such. However there are a lot different things as I spoke of in my blog like assisted suicide, or DNR. I completely agree with you that I do not believe in suicide and for me personally it would never be an option. However I feel that for some people suicide truly is what they feel like is their only way out. I thank God everyday that I know him and I know that all things are possible with him and I can ender anything if he is on my sided but not everyone is that blessed to have that relationship with him. That is one reason why it is our jobs as God fearing people to let others knows of the working of God because hopefully we can help change the mind of those who think that suicide is there only way out of a dark narrow path. I also read what you wrote about how a lot of people re worse off. To me though I never really liked that statement. I think that so often in life we always say to people “I am sorry that happened to you, but you know some other people are worse off.” I think that it is all relative like the worse thing that happened to me, might be an everyday occurrence to others, but that doesn’t me for me it wasn’t a terrible and traumatic experience. I try not to compare myself to others on any light, so I think that rings true with the whole well they shouldn’t kill themselves so many other people have gone through worst and lived on. In my opinion that is just an unfair statement. But I liked your blog. J
ReplyDelete