The concept of yellow journalism created by Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer has suggested that we live in a dangerous world. A world essentially filled with violence and death. I think that’s the concept for the average person. If you ask a class of young people for sure, do you live in a violent world? They will answer in the affirmative.
Yes, we do. How do you know? I watch the news. Of course. What a ridiculous question.
And then I ask, have you ever been stabbed? Have you ever been shot? Have you ever been blown up? No, is the response. Well then, how do you know personally that it is a violent world?
You don’t. But I’m sure this does exist, of course. But I choose life. I choose to live. This is my thinking of being a human being.
I want to live life. So in the last week or so, the news has been filled with a very famous woman who has decided at 86 years old to commit suicide. And she was apparently in relatively good health and had lots and lots of money, but of course the old story, isn’t it? In some pain, some suffering, some loss, a broken heart, and I’ve decided it’s time to go. But it’s not time to go because this is wrong.
This is wrong, I believe. Why do I say this? Well, I do understand suicide. It’s happened in history. If you’re in deep pain or if you’re going to be tortured to death, if you were a spy or a broken love affair that’s just totally destroying your heart, There are excuses in a sense for suicide.
Not justifiable excuses but still excuses. But I think to myself, wait a moment. We must choose life, mostly life in a modern era. Why? Why?
Because life is hard. Life is not easy at all. But if we want to be a moral vessel, we have to show young people, I believe, that we can overcome the hurdles and the pains that are associated with life, and we can win. Now some people say I’m going to commit suicide because I have dementia, and I’m going to bring a lot of suffering to my family. They’re going to have to look after me.
Well, I’ll tell you a personal story. My mother had dementia for the last 2 years of her life, and it was for the family a wonderful time because they were able to come and visit her and sit with her. And let’s be fair, my family does have some money. So one of my nieces was able to stay with her full time and there was a caregiver and all those things were true in that sense. But the point is that the family did not suffer because of this.
It in fact actually benefited from the whole experience. And I think if you’d suggested at any point, let’s kill the old lady, people would have been horrified. So as you go on in life, realize that you could make this choice. And because I think if you’re an older individual and you commit suicide, what are you saying to young people? Truly, what are you saying?
You’re saying that you have some struggle and you can end life now? Well, why not struggle on and end it tomorrow or the next day or the next day? So I think the only way you can stop this nonsense in a sense is to say that I’m not God. I didn’t choose my own life and I will not choose my own death for barring whatever circumstance. And then there is a caveat, however.
If you wanna be like a Viking and you think it’s time to go, then go with some dignity. Disappear. Go into the mountains, get in a boat, drown yourself, take some pills, go away. Don’t make yourself a spectacle for everyone to look at and comment on. Disappear.
Disappear. Because it’s just not fair because there are weak people in the world. Not everyone is strong, you know. There are weak people and when they see this as an example, as a model, they easily have a tendency to copy, to emulate that behavior. And many times, it’s not the time for them.
They’re having just a tough period in their lives and things will get better. Because usually things always get better. What’s the old saying? If it’s terrible, it’s not the end. And if it continues to be terrible, it’s not the end.
So struggle on. Struggle on. All the greats struggled on. They didn’t jump off. No.
That’s not totally true. Some people did. There’s a great stork philosopher called Seneca. He committed suicide because he was accused of being part of a conspiracy to kill Nero. He was ordered to and probably his family would have been tortured if he didn’t.
I mean, yes, there are always circumstances. But for the most part in a modern world, no. Absolutely not. Struggle on. Choose life.
Now just to digress very quickly, there are so many stories in history of people that were at their absolute lowest ebb. Tolstoy comes to mind immediately, which I’ve spoken about recently in his book, A Confession. At 50 years old, he was going to kill himself. What’s the purpose of life? And then he discovered that the purpose of life in his case was faith.
And he went on to influence literally millions of people with his view on pacifism and on nature and on respect for the real God, the real interpretation of God as he saw him, etcetera. And there would have been no Tolstoy, the great man, if he had killed himself at 50. And he went on to live another 30 something years and produced tens of short stories and novels and pamphlets. You know? So here’s one example.
So choose life. Always choose life because if you can wake up in the morning, you always have a chance to improve. You know, when you’re dead, you’re not dead. You’re not. You don’t exist.
You transcend to the 4th dimension perhaps to a communion with the universe, with God, but you are certainly not here. Your influence is over because the only person I can control is me and I’m not here. So stay in to the end. Fight on. Fight a good fight.
Stay on. And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is everything especially when it comes to life. Choose life. Gosh. And critical thinking is great. You take care. God bless. Bye bye.