Plan for Life, instead

For those contemplating suicide, the choices in life may seem limited

SUICIDE is the greatest exercise of free will; and perhaps, the saddest.

Going against every instinct for survival, this gravest and final choice, if successful, relinquishes rights to any more choice. To those fortunate enough to not be in a situation which entertains suicidal ideas, the thought of ending one's life -- to close the book on what happens tomorrow, to the new things that a fresh dawn can bring -- is frightening and, some might say, crazy. Yet, for the people who have attempted or succeeded in ending their own lives, the array of choices open to the rest of the world may not have been available to them; at least, not to their way of thinking.

Not all suicidal people are irrational or depressed. Within the parameters of their reality, their life, sight, and future can seem extremely short and bleak; so the choice to end it can be seem sensible. And though the rest of the world -- and those left behind -- can probably think of at least a thousand tomorrows with different beginnings, suicide is an individual act -- a private conversation with Life itself. The tone, direction and content of that conversation varies between people; and it is this variance that determines whether a person decides to live, or die.

"Tomorrow", and how we can live in it, is an interpretable thing; and what determines the particular bend of mind a person takes depends largely on how that person has been taught to live. What is the meaning of life, and how should it be lived? Are we the centre of the universe? Is there value in failure? Is happiness a compulsory component of living? What is happiness? Will there be disappointments in life? Does that mean the end of the world? How much control do we have over our lives and the world -- what changes are within our power to effect, and what are not? And when all the chips are down, how do we live with the cards with which we are dealt?

If, as an adult, you can answer all these questions -- and not for the first time -- then, consider yourself fortunate enough to have somehow been prepped for such an examination some time in the past. But while many might take this for granted, in reality, it is not something that happens by accident. Success and failure, happiness and misery, are miniscule parts of the whole called life; the lessons of which need to be guided with time, love, firmness, and living examples and good role models. Sure, some people have survived without all this; but when it could mean the difference between the life or the death of a loved one, why leave things to chance?

Plan for Life, instead

For those contemplating suicide, the choices in life may seem limited

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