Results are out. Many of them passed, but some failed. But what we need to remember is no matter if we fail at one exam, we should never fail at living a full life. It was a lot in the news, children committing suicide, for not being able to perform at par in the board exams. It got me wondering, is it really necessary to end your life, which is connected to so many others’, just because you could not perform well in a stupid school exam? Do you really think that death is the only option, when you could get another chance at the exam? If the education board is giving you a second chance, then why don’t you give yourself another chance at life too?
My favorite actor, RJD- Robert Downey Junior, The Iron Man, in the movie and real life as well. Who could ever think that a drug addict, who is believed to have no life or future ahead, could change into a person who is now an inspiration to many out there. If he was strong enough to change and give himself another chance at life, why can’t you?
I was going through some blogs, and one of them caught my eye. It was written by a teen, who failed her school and wanted to slit her wrist, thinking that it would make things better for everyone. In the end she wrote, “The birds are still gonna sing the same, the sun is still gonna rise the same, then Why Not?”
You want a Why Not? I’ll give you a “Why Not”.
How about the way your best friend’s older sister will throw up by the side of the road because she is crying so hard.
How about the way your best friend will sob for weeks in her showers, in her bedroom, in the bathroom at school?
How about the way your mother will cry every time she looks at herself in the mirror and pictures herself bringing you home from school
How about the way your father’s eyes will NEVER stop mirroring the image of your lifeless, still body.
How about the way your boyfriend will sit in his room in silence, unable to talk, eat or sleep, or even to fucking shower, because why would he want to continue without you
How about the way, the girl living next door will start crying every time she sees your parents
How about the way your family will sit in your house after the funeral, looking blankly at one another, feeling dead inside because their only treasure decided to make things better by herself and ended her life, because god knows they can’t find a damn thing to say that doesn’t just float through the air where you should be walking
How about the way your sister will wake up every morning and see your room and convince herself that you could still be there, under those blankets with your teddy in your hand, just cuddling and sleeping in your bed.
How about the way your brother will walk in and pull your clothes from the drawers and cry while he holds them desperately to his face to breathe in what’s left of you.
I just want to tell you all one thing, to each one of you out there who are having the same thoughts, or could possibly have those in future. Don’t you dare tell me that things won’t change.
There may be stars in the sky and wind in the air and sun in the clouds. But without you, we don’t want them. The world is better dark than sunny, if it couldn’t let you believe in second chances.
Don’t you dare be selfish enough to believe you aren’t important to us.
So, to hell with your idiotic thoughts
To hell with this romanticism of suicide
And to hell with you for leaving your sister to cry in her room when she thinks that nobody can hear her.
You have a reason behind your life. Your parents brought you into the world, so nobody ever gave you the right to decide when you are to leave it. If you are here, just hang on and hold on to everything that you have.
Things will change.
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While I do like the sentiment of this article, I've actually had these thoughts myself (no more, of course, because of reasons similar to the one you've written about), and the longer I think about what your article is trying to say the less I like it. Why? Well, as much as I liked it, I felt like it assumed too much of the reader. Do you really think the people reading the work has a boyfriend who will miss them? Or parents, or a brother or a sister? I can understand if you mentioned the latter, but the former was the one example that broke the illusion for me. Why? Because it showed that you made an assumption of your readership. You didn't assume that your readership was a diverse collection of depressed people--you assumed your readership was a collection of depressed girls (or gay boys, or any other sexuality attracted to boys). And in making that mistake, you pushed away all the other demographics. By doing that, you subtextually say, "Go away, this speech isn't for you." Unless this is a letter directed to yourself or perhaps your friend, this isn't advisable. We're not even going to talk about how you may be pushing away girls who are suicidal because they got dumped by their boyfriends, because that's another can of worms entirely and I already don't like this can of worms.
And do you really think it's a good idea to call their very reasonable fears that amounts to a self-destructive tendency "idiotic"?...Do you even know who your demographic is? Do you know how much they hate themselves already? Sure, you can guilt them into not being suicidal, but that doesn't stop them from self-harming or turning to drugs. Or even worse, they'll repress it for years and it'll become a problem for another generation entirely. Calling them "idiotic" is not only aiding their mental health, it's detrimental to it. Sure it might work on some people, but do you really think it'll work for everybody?
Alright, I take back what I asked. I'm pretty sure you don't know who your demographic is. Because in the beginning you talked about kids taking their lives because of failing a test, and then you equated it with Robert Downey Junior who was a drug addict and became a movie star. Inspirational, but did you just equate failing a test with drug addiction? I don't know if that's a sign of how prevalent drug addiction is nowadays or if it's saying that failing a test is exactly like being addicted to a substance that may or may not kill you depending on how much you use. I'm sorry, at that point you either don't know what you're saying or don't care. Are you talking to high school underachievers or drug addicts here?
Okay, okay. I'm getting ahead of myself here. So let's sum this up:
-Do not make assumptions about your readers,
-Do not call your readers 'idiots' (and yes, calling their thoughts idiotic is the same thing as calling them idiotic),
-Do not make analogies that make no sense.
Look. This isn't a bad meaning article. This is a very, very well meaning article. But a lot of well-meaning things do not end up well at all, and could possibly be threatening to a person's mental health. So I suggest that while you're editing this, try to give the article a more positive spin. Replace the Robert Downey Junior comparison with another famous high school failure (or drop out. The best example is Bill Gates, after all). Try and actually learn about what it feels like to be depressed so that you can speak to your readers in a sympathetic light. And, once again, either be specific from the very beginning (as in make a note that you're talking to a specific group of people), or remove all assumptions about your readership. Because, listen here, girls aren't the only people who get depressed. In fact, men are more likely to kill themselves than girls (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_di ... in_suicide Western nations are mostly afflicted by this, my source may be wrong though so correct me if it is). And most importantly, be careful what you say, especially with the people you're talking to. Stable people can handle tough talk. If you're talking to someone who is truly considering suicide, they may or may not be able to handle it.
I was going to give you a proof reading, but after looking at the length of this thing I don't think I can handle that. I know you mean well and I know that you probably have a friend who tried doing this once so you thought "Hey, I know how to talk to people like this," or maybe you yourself have been through this before, I don't know. What I do know is how I feel about this, and I just don't feel like this article helps anymore than it hurts. I understand, it means well. Everything means well. But the execution needs to be rounded so that it actually motivates people to keep on living, not guilt them into living because "it'd be selfish not to".
Signing out,
--EM.
Hello and welcome to YWS!
I'm just speechless after reading your work. It is just awesome. I actually cried (You can call me a bit over - sentimental if you like).
Though I'm marking this as a review, there is nothing to review on in your work. Your writing is amazing and you have done a wonderful job at describing the emotions. The style is simple yet strong.
There is just a little piece of nitpick, though. There are some sentences which lack punctuation. That's all.
Okay I will now take your leave and also leave a like for your work.
Keep writing and delighting your readers!