Stay Alive: Things to Remember When Everything Goes Wrong

Some seasons, everything seems to go wrong at once. Work, family, health, money, the future. If you found this page because life feels pointless right now, I’m really glad you’re here. Please stay with me for a few minutes.

I wrote the first version of this in 2018. Around me, I kept hearing people say that nothing was good in their lives and that they didn’t want to live anymore. Some said it casually. Some meant it. At that time, the World Health Organization estimated that close to 800,000 people died by suicide every year. Behind every one of those numbers was a person who was loved by someone.

Even if you’ve never felt this way yourself, someone near you probably has, or will. This post is for them too.

I’m Not a Counselor

I’m not a counselor and this isn’t therapy. I’m writing as someone who has also had days when I asked myself what the point was, when life wasn’t moving the way I wanted it to. On those days, something unexpected helped me. Not the big reasons. The small ones.

We usually measure life by big things: careers, relationships, the plans that fell apart. But you can keep going for tiny reasons too. Here are some of mine.

Tiny Reasons to Stay

• Your favorite song. The one that feels like it was written for you. Don’t you want to hear it one more time?
• A full moon. On a beach or from a mountaintop, with “Under a Violet Moon” by Blackmore’s Night playing. The moon is too pretty to never see again.
• The next season. That one show you wait all year for. You don’t want to miss how it ends.
• Your pet. Your dog or cat would wait at the door for you. They wouldn’t understand where you went.
• Your team. Football, cricket or basketball. The next big match, and the chance to watch them win.
• The fireworks. New Year’s Eve will come again, and you deserve to see the sky light up.
• The unfinished plan. The concert or trip you kept postponing with friends or family. It’s still waiting to happen.
• The silly memories. The ones with someone you love that still make you smile. You can only make more of them if you’re here.

If You’re Still Here, That Is Enough

If you’ve made it to today, you’re already doing enough. I’m proud of you. Today doesn’t have to be good. It only has to be lived. Breathe, and think of one tiny thing you want to experience one more time. Then hold on to it until tomorrow.

And please don’t carry this alone. Tell one person how you feel: a friend, a family member, someone you trust. Saying it out loud isn’t weakness. It’s the first step back.