Why Should You Stay Alive?
- Your heart is beating, lungs are breathing, and synapses are firing. All five of your senses are functional. With hope and hard work, there is possibility for brighter days.
- The other option isn’t flexible. Believe me, permanent really is permanent. Please don’t risk it.
- Flowers blooming at the start of spring, cool drops of summer rain, the changing colors of autumn leaves, and the first snowfall of winter.
- Music. Listening to your favorite songs on repeat.
- Photography.
- New journals, stickers, glitter gel pens, and a brand new box of crayola crayons with the sharpener included.
- So you can be an advocate. Fight for equal rights and defuse the stigma of mental illness. Be part of a revolution that positively changes the world.
- To one day have your own private library with a rolling ladder, a cozy reading nook, and an endless supply of books.
- The realization that you can be helped, you can let people help you (yes, there are people who genuinely want to help you!), and you can also help someone else.
- Sunrises and sunsets. The magic of golden hour.
- Putting on a warm sweatshirt when it comes fresh out of the dryer.
- An especially good body image day, so many more good than bad.
- Unbreakable mechanical pencils and erasers that don’t smudge.
- The freedom of self-expression and enough self-confidence to not care what anyone thinks.
- So you have the chance to recapture the wide-eyed childhood wonder you might have lost – to play fully, unfettered, and freely as your inner child will allow.
- Hugs.
- Receiving a handwritten letter.
- Being able to one day eat whatever you want and actually enjoy it – no fear, no shame, no guilt.
- People watch. Observe, learn, be kind, empathize, and grow.
- Watching every element of creativity finally come to fruition.
- Real, genuine smiles – the kind that causes eyes to light up and faces to soften.
- Mood based music playlists, friendship bracelets, cats cradle, singing off key, and interpretive dance.
- Waking up and not feeling tired.
- Instant friendships, uncontrollable smiles, and giggling fits.
- The sigh of relief and incredible feeling of accomplishment when you cross things off your to-do list.
- Epiphanies that inspire paradigm shifts and ‘ah ha’ moments that change your life.
- Common courtesy, good manners, and treating everyone with respect.
- Warm breath on cold, foggy windows.
- Watching grey skies and thunderstorms while you’re inside snuggled under a mountain of blankets.
- The refreshed feeling of sipping ice cold water when you’re hot and thirsty.
- Deep breaths, sacred pauses, comfortable silence, holy moments, and mindful awareness.
- Random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
- Playground swings, the cool side of a pillow, good morning/good night texts, putting in the last piece of a puzzle, and “made especially for you” pictures by kids.
- Graphology – the uniqueness and originality of each person’s handwriting.
- The particularly unspecific musical genre with access to your spine that causes butterflies and chills.
- Suicide may lead to your friends and family becoming depressed and you would never wish depression on anyone, especially people you love.
- Because the only constant in life is change. Everything eventually passes. Feelings, though sometimes incredibly painful, will eventually pass. Give time, time. Healing is possible.
- Inside jokes, late night conversations, and laughing until it hurts.
- Love is the best reason to stay alive – self-love, love for other people, love of life and noticing the good.
- Compliments about your character.
- Mind opening and educational ted talks, npr podcasts, science friday episodes, and “how things are made” videos.
- Blue skies and sunshine.
- Feeling nostalgic while re-watching your favorite childhood tv shows.
- People would be sad if you didn’t keep fighting and you don’t want to disappoint them.
- Silencing the voice(s) in your head that try to hurt you, not giving in to destructive behaviors to avoid your feelings, replacing self deprecating thoughts with positive ones and using healthy and safe coping skills to deal with life’s difficulties instead.
- Getting closure.
- Learning new things.
- Poetry – reading and writing it.
- Calligraphy, vinyl records, typewriters, polaroids, scented candles, indoor houseplants and herb gardens.
- Because it’s been better before and it will be again.
- Because the most powerful drugs in the world are love and kindness. And if you kill yourself, you’ll never have the chance to experience them at the deepest level.
- To prove everyone who doubted you wrong.
- Because there will be better times and better versions of yourself, which you might be able to reach if you keep holding on. So please, keep holding on.
- Because mental illness lies. All they want to do is mess with your mind and hurt you. Please don’t let them.
- Maybe one day, you’ll experience joy that matches the pain you’re feeling.
- Instead of weeping from things that make you sad, you’ll cry euphoric tears from things that bring you pure joy. And when that happens, that pain you feel now will be worth it.
- You’ll be mentally healthy and emotionally stable enough to not think about or hope for death. That will be such an awesome day – please wait for it!
- There are things you are already proud of yourself for and there are things you still want to accomplish (whether it’s family, career, or travel related); that in itself is a reason to keep on going. You have to stay alive so you can continue to check things off your proud list and your bucket list.
- Because you are you and that means you experience life in uniquely your own way. That means you can read it and write it and feel it and live it with an authentic, fresh perspective. Please don’t ever give that up. You are so much more important than you realize and without you, the world would not be the same!
- And last but not least – the hexadecimal color clock! it translates time into RGB, hex, and CSS codes. It’s incredibly cool – check it out here!