Ask Lemmy

Me.

I mean, I'm not particularly old — only 29. But I'm super surprised I still exist. And it's not for lack of trying. It just turns out that even though I'm pretty mediocre at living, I'm even worse at dying. Fortunately, I'm in a place now where that's a thing I'm happy about, for the most part.

I've got at least 8 different attempts under my belt, and the way that some of them failed makes me feel like it's almost offensive to be an atheist. For instance, when I swam out into the sea, as far as I could until I couldn't anymore, and the next thing I remember was waking up on the beach, not super far from where I'd swam from. I thought that was a thing that only happened in movies. Granted, I'm not a strong swimmer, so I didn't get very far out, but still.

That was one of my attempts as an adult, but I had a lot as a teenager too. When I was about 16, I was resentful of all the people who cared about me, because the guilt I felt over hurting them was the only thing keeping me alive. Building off of the crisis management advice that I'd seen that said it's good to try to put some distance between you and your suicidal feelings by trying to hold off until the next day, for instance, I resolved that I would stick around until I was 20, and if nothing had improved by then, I would kill myself and fuck anyone who begrudged me this escape — no-one could say I didn't try.

Well, it turns out that some things did improve by age 20 — enough that it suggested there was a non-zero hope that I could some day live and actually be happy to be alive. I still struggled a lot after that point, because it's not like my mental health was magically resolved (it still isn't), but I'm glad I stuck around.

In a way though, things got harder after age 20. Ironically, there were countless times throughout my late teens in which looking forward to my death was the only thing that saved my life. When things were particularly rough, I would work out how many days I had to go before I could rest, and it soothed me. After I was 20, however, I was unanchored. I had a life that didn't feel like it was my own, because I never expected to make it this far. Even now, it still sometimes feels like I'm in a bonus level. It's a bizarre feeling.

But yeah, I, and many of the people who know and love me, are surprised that I'm still around. I'm proud of myself, even if a significant part of why I'm still here is sheer luck. Obviously this wasn't what you meant when asking your question, but I've been reflecting on my progress a lot lately, and the idea of giving this answer amused me. It feels healing to joke about this stuff a bit, I think