Tell me what's so good about life

[Telperion]

*throws in a chip*

Yeah, I have been depressed as well.

a. seek professional help

b. handle it yourself

c. find an alternative solution

Those are the three most obvious answers. (in no particular order)

Personally I just think that people will live just as long as they want to live. Okay, doesn't apply to every situation, but in this sort of case it is all up to you. No one can really help you until you want to be helped...and so on...
Assuming that you want to be helped in the first place. Personally I think that shrinks aren't worth much, but that's my opinion.

So, in the end we come back to you. So, what do you want to do? Don't have the answer yet? Guess you'll have to live until tomorrow then to find out, if you can't figure it out today...*shrugs and goes to do something constructive*

 

[Rel]

Uzmaki,

There are a lot of people who care about you in this world. Your mother, the rest of your family and friends, even the people you see posting in this thread. In the space of a very short time, dozens of people who have never met you have written thousands of words in your support. People care. I care.

One of my best friends, a guy I knew since I was 12, died just a few months ago from a heart attack. He was 33. The effect on his family and friends has been profound. The sadness we've all had to go through and the hole in our lives where he once was have been terrible things to have to experience.

You are not the sort of person who would inflict that kind of thing on the people who care about you. I just know it.

So please, get up from the computer right now. Walk into the nearest room with another person and just say, "Help." They will help you. We will help you. Because you'd do the same thing for us.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

So, for her sake, please tell me why I need to keep waking up every day, because I just don't want to anymore.

I think a good reason for continuing to live would be humanity's essential capacity for empathy. While nobody can claim to be able to feel your pain exactly as you do, people can and do care about how you feel. I think this is because every person has, on some level or another, a greater emotional link to the rest of humanity and the world as a whole. Empathy helps unite us in all of our positive endeavors. The people on this board show their empathy and concern for your well-being by providing all of this accumulated wisdom. You show empathy for your mother by caring so much about how she feels.

There is no shame in seeking help, from a psychologist, religion, a few friends and family.

I cannot add much more to what has already been said, but to just suggest that all the things done in this material shell can be forgiven. No matter what mistakes you make or trials you endure, you can learn from them. Negative life events can be great learning experiences and can help you become more empathic to other people. If you lived, learned, adapted, and endured through what you are feeling now, you could go on to help other people live through similar situations and make the world a better place. Nobody is perfect. There is nothing wrong with admitting your mistakes but letting go of them and giving yourself the proper credit for the good things you do.

 

[Hida Bukkorosu]

i've felt like this for a long time. the worst parts come and go but sometimes i just start utterly despairing, particularily around this time of year, when it seems like everyone has a significant other and here i am 26 years old and still a virgin...

the one thing i do think about though, is i at least want to live to see star wars episode 3. to be able to see the whole star wars saga in my life... i suppose that's as good as any to at least go on a couple more years

 

[Hjorimir]

Uzumaki, I'm praying for you right now. Praying that you find the inspiration you so desperately need. Praying that you know you're important in the world.

 

[Frostmarrow]

I take one day at the time. I change one thing everyday, to see if it made a difference.

 

[jgbrowning]

*steeles his fingers* Stop seeking happiness, Uzumaki, and happiness shall seek you *falls off the mountain*

Good advice, Wil.

In life you have only two choices: how to live and how to die. Choose wisely.

I've had several friends kill themselves. Some I think did so with good reason (not the right thing to say, i know, but that's what i think) and some did so without good reason. No matter what, all of them left a wake of destruction behind in their path. When you've wiped brains off a wall it's hard to feel compassion.

Someone's going to clean up your mess if you kill yourself. You should clean up your own messes. That's what being an adult is about.

Sometimes life gets you to the point where you know things aren't going to get any better. You have to ask yourself then, "Is it good enough?" Choose wisely, because you can't undo what's been done, and the damage you leave behind is massive. More than likely, like many of us here, you'll realize that "good enough" is really good enough. And then you'll find out that good enough gets better every year.

EDIT: And talk to a professional before you decide anything. I think I'm pretty smart (as are many people here), but that don't really mean jack in this situation.

joe b.

 

[s/LaSH]

First: Let people know you need help. If you can't motivate yourself to see a counsellor, for Heaven's sake tell someone anyway - people are nice. People will help you, maybe phone a counsellor's office and give you a lift there. Human civilisation is all about helping others; we're hardwired to enjoy it, too. See how many people have answered to this thread? Asking someone for help will make their day.

Life is cool. You are the result of three billion years - three billion years - of evolution - your ancestors were single celled organisms. Can you imagine what it would feel like to be an amoeba? Can you imagine them imagining you? You're an awe-inspiring piece of engineering, of incomprehensible complexity, designed to live.

That's my cause for happiness. I am a living organism, my primary purpose is to eat, breathe, protect my kind, and make babies (none of those yet, though). Is that dreary? Heck no! Food is delicious (and if you don't know how to cook, make the time and learn; it'll give you something to do, and even if you don't succeed at first, try again; I'm a proficient cook and occasionally burn the potatoes). Helping people makes you feel good. Making babies... well, I can't speak from experience here, but anything that makes you feel good is probably part of the progression of life (and you do not need to procreate to be vital to the species; aiding others is perfectly acceptable from an instinctive point of view). I may die one day, but I'm going to plan for that after I turn 200, assuming technology hasn't solved that little setback. Death may be natural, it may lead to Heaven, but that doesn't mean I don't want to bring as much of Heaven to Earth as I can before I pass on.

Sometimes the world may suck. It's not perfect, but the only people who can change it are the people living there. Buy a plant and water it every day (and if it dies, that's life; buy another), visit a forest park, get in connection with nature. Smile - it's infectious, you might start something. Look up at the sky and imagine how far it is to the nearest star (more than you can comprehend, but you can write it down - isn't that amazing?), and then wonder if your children will one day look back down at you.

Do you think with your head or your heart? Bzzt, wrong - the heart was once conjectured to be the centre of human consciousness. Feelings are part of the brain, they're perfectly natural, and you should share them. I do - I live on impulse, scavenging for food (in the fridge) when I'm hungry, sleeping when I want to, not caring about things I don't have to care about. I own a dog, and her simple outlook has certainly influenced mine, I confess, but the primary difference between a person and a dog is that people aren't as good at communicating their feelings. And the pants, I guess; dogs don't like pants, I've tested this.

I think sometimes people forget the amazing fact that they're Life first, humans second. Thinking about how bad things are is a unique ability amongst humans.

*Brief pause while I chase my dog around the house just because she enjoys it*

Yeah. Everything in life is special. We are the children of dead stars. Isn't that cool? Everything you see is complex, part of a 13 billion year saga, and you're right in the middle of it.

One day I decided to be happy, and never looked back. Some people may not have that luxury, and I'll admit it's sometimes difficult; it was hard watching my mother die at age 16, scary seeing my father hospitalised with heart attacks two weeks apart last year. But even if every day is a battle, decide you will win it, take pleasure in your victories, accept your defeats. If you have tried your best, you can have no regrets. Starchild, vital part of the now, foundation of the future.



Whew, that was longer than I expected. Now excuse me while I chase my dog again; play is genetically hardwired into life. This forum's just an outgrowth of a billion-year-old gene...

(And do consider religion; it's something humans are designed for, for some reason. We are psychologically stronger when we have beliefs, and those beliefs almost always boil down to 'be nice to everyone'. Perhaps shop around to find a good one; I'm Catholic, and as you might have guessed I'm certainly not brainwashed. Try it, you should like it.)

 

[Painfully]

Having paid my dues as a psychology undergrad, I can firmly say that there is good, solid advice already here.

If you don't want to call the FREE crisis center in your area (just pick up the phone and dial '0'), then you can just bug me for a while. I'll send you an email.

 

[Felix]

About two years ago I was feeling the same as you are now. But I realized that if I cut myself short I was never going to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. So I decided to wait around for that. Glad I did; great movie, eh? But more important than any one movie is that all the small things that make up this wonderful life would be missed... it may sound cheesy but even the simple pleasure of two eggs sunny-side up with toast and jam early in the morning makes getting up worth it. And life is full of these pleasures, if you would only see them for what they are.

And only you can say what they are; everyone has thier own simple pleasures. So whether it's movies, the feeling of warm blankets on a cold morning, the smile of an attractive woman, or talking on the boards about DnD. These make life worth living, even if you can find no other reason.