**Trigger Warning: suicide, self-harm, and personal experiences**
Please, if you are triggered by any of these things it’s okay to skip this read. Make sure to stay safe out there, pookies. <3
Alright, let’s get into this.
Things are tough right now. With everything happening in the world and the struggles of daily life, it’s easy to lose hope. But, it’s important to keep going and live on. Maybe one (or a combo) of these three reasons can keep you going:
Spite >:)You might have heard this one before, but I wish to elaborate. If you’ve been bullied by someone or told to “kys” (kill yourself) and considered doing it, don’t. Prove them wrong. Live and show you are stronger than them. You are stronger than those asshole haters. And even if you haven’t had personal experience with people telling you to kys, there is still spite to be given.Trump and other politicians want immigrants, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent people to be gone, to disappear. If you give up, you are fueling their cause. You are giving them what they want. They want minorities to lose hope and dissolve, but if you stay strong and live on, you are contributing to the resistance.
Live to create or see changeIf you live, you can create change. It doesn’t have to be big, just anything that helps people. Being educated creates change. Writing articles creates change by helping to educate other people about current events. Volunteering locally creates change. Look to join the efforts of organizations that help people suffering from natural disasters and fires, organizations that help poor and unhoused people, and organizations that help LGBTQ+ and other minorities. And if you don’t have the time to volunteer and have money to spare, donate. Even if it’s just a dollar, if thousands of people donate just a dollar, that is still thousands of dollars that can change the course of an organization in need. If you want to be more extreme in your change—protest, speak at events, organize groups to help people in need, and be the change you want to see.If creating change is too much (and it really isn’t because every small positive act builds toward change), if you don’t have the money, time, or motivation to do anything, live long enough to see change. Live to see things get better. I promise they will get better.
This next point is, in my opinion, the most important. It’s what gives me the most motivation.
Live for the people who couldn’t.People have (and unfortunately will) die through suicide, murder, or police brutality. So live. Live for those people. Live for their spirits, and do the things they weren’t able to do. Fight for what they believed in.
I know staying strong is hard. I wanted to give up many times in middle school, but coming from someone who survived with scars to prove it, living is worth it. Living is worth the suffering because then you can take that suffering and turn it into something great, into something that can make the world better. So please, stay strong, for yourself, for me, for your friends and family, for change, and for the people who couldn’t. I love you all and believe that you can stay strong. <3
Organizations that could use your help:
SafeHouse Outreach helps people in poverty and helped 92 people secure housing in 2023
Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation works towards keeping our planet clean and had cleaned up 1.5 million pounds of litter in 2024 (WOW!)
Helping Mamas is an organization that works to distribute baby supplies and period products to mothers in need and has already distributed 8,000,000 baby products
Southerners On New Ground (SONG) is a safe place where people can gain support and confidence. They fight for freedom through social movements that encourage people to create change.