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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3359 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How do you convince a completely miserable person that the world isn't such a terrible place?

    I try not to assume that I'm correct in my decision to continue living.

Is it a decision for you? Other people don't seem to even have that question pop up in their heads. Do you feel like there are many people asking this question, in one way or another?





user-inactivated  ·  3359 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's not a question for most because society forces a blanket prohibition of suicide on you. The question is answered for you daily. You will continue living because you will not be looked upon kindly if you commit suicide. People will assume you were faulty or tragically flawed or any other number of things. But no one will assume that you were right because it would throw their whole existence into question.

I've thought about committing suicide before. I don't think that my poetry leaves that question unanswered. I didn't do it because I have obligations other than to myself. So no matter how much I may have wanted to in the past, the thought of my son growing up without me is worse. I owe him. I am going to pay that debt.

user-inactivated  ·  3359 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's noble of you. I wonder what others, in different situations, have to answer - those, perhaps, without such obligations.

    no one will assume that you were right because it would throw their whole existence into question.

Is it a question in which a situation of being right may occur? It's a personal choice, you've already stated, so answering this in any way is as right as wearing anything you prefer. Maybe this is why nobody asks the question: because they already know the answer, and it's the life that throws them pieces with the taste of suicide to chew on. What do you think?

user-inactivated  ·  3359 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I think more people ask the question than you think. You wouldn't know if someone did. It's embarrassing for a lot of people to admit that they've contemplated their own existence as not worth sustaining.

Maybe everyone but you has contemplated suicide. You wouldn't know at all. It's not likely, but it's possible.

It's a situation where being right may occur, and it's a question where no one actually knows the answer. So everyone can pretend they're right, and maybe some people are right, but no one knows until they get there.

user-inactivated  ·  3359 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    So everyone can pretend they're right, and maybe some people are right, but no one knows until they get there.

Which defies the idea of being right in this particular case, doesn't it?

user-inactivated  ·  3359 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's what I'm saying.