Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Alright, I spoke with a suicidal person today. Doing so got me thinking about life, in general. I also know that there are high suicide rates in the trans community, so I thought it would be a good idea to put up ideas of why one should not kill him/herself. I really hope this topic takes off. You never know if it could help someone. 

I'll start:
-I'll never see the day where I can finally finish transition and live my life the way I want to.
-I'll never be able to see the sunrise again.
-I won't be able to find true love.
-I'll never taste eggs again. The horror!  :o

-I'll never hear my favorite song again. I think it has a good message: seize the day.
Tonight is what it means to be young]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5Q6QS6XoY&feature=fvsr#]Tonight is what it means to be young (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5Q6QS6XoY&feature=fvsr#)

-I wouldn't be able to live to see the day where society eventually becomes more educated and peaceful. (I know, I have too much faith in people)

Alright, everybody. Have at it.  :) Maybe we can even make this a sticky topic.  ::)

My son.

If I do so I can't spite the people who try so hard with their bs to drive me to it so often. Live for revenge, such a sweet thing :)

Well, vengeance isn't a very fun way to live, but if that's what works, so be it.  :)

If I killed myself, I wouldn't be able to enjoy a day with my friends, playing video games and running around like hyperactive little devil children.  >:-)

Because there is a book I want to read and a song I want to listen to and a show I want to watch.

Because even the smallest fragment of pleasure is better than nothing.

Because tomorrow might hurt less than today. And as long as I'm still breathing, there is a chance.

Because I can always kill myself later. I can wait a few more days, a few more hours, a few more moments. Just in case something changes. Just to be sure.


(To be clear, I'm not suicidal and haven't been for a number of years. Sometimes when I post things from that time, people get confused.)

QuoteBecause I can always kill myself later. I can wait a few more days, a few more hours, a few more moments. Just in case something changes. Just to be sure.

I'm just beginning to feel the effects of friendships, something I haven't had in decades. It's just tiny little glimmer, and I suspect that it will grow into something that helps keep me alive until a natural death.

In the meantime, the thought I quoted from Sarah7 is what has kept me alive during all those times when I thought about, or had, a gun in hand.

5 minutes more. Just wait a bit. Just 5 minutes. Too long? Let's go with 5 moments. 5 moments more....

Seriously, that's what kept me going when I was in crisis mode. Now, because of my friends, I don't even touch a gun when I'm in that mood. The glimmer keeps me on this side of obliteration.

So I would say, to help others in crisis, to be a friend. Stay with them. Give them your time. Let them know you're there, and that they are worth having as a friend.

I usually avoid these sorts of topics, but one reason for living, for me, is the opportunity to be of service to my community and the people I love most.

How altruistic of you. See, if I committed suicide, I wouldn't be able to learn cool words like altruistic.  :)

single malt, small batch

There's a number of reasons that i've got to live, but it's the ones that I don't even know about yet are the ones that keep me excited about doing so

Well, that was deep.

I want to someday be able to play the guitar.

I want to be able to finally see an R-rated movie alone.  ::)

basically there's this M. Ward song called To Go Home and it has this verse:

"God, it's great to be alive
takes the skin right off my hide
to think I'll have to give it all up someday"

This world is filled with so many wonders and so many beautiful and terrible things...Just to think I'd never feel the warmth of the sun or hear or see laughter.

For me, A hundred lifetimes would not suffice to grow tired an weary of this world. But I know these are words backed by good health, loving friends and family and a more or less stable economic position.

The thing is, when people are suicidal, none of these things matter, and no on can truly help. My mom is a psychologists and has told me about anonymous patients who were had been making progress and were by all symptoms stable and happy only to take their lives after the worst had passed and were doing well again.

If someone wants to kill themselves, short of interning that person, there's nothing we can truly do, every word of encouragement and every kind gesture will be like a stab in their hearts.  :'(

Be kind, be loving, respect life and acknowledge every person you meet as a human being that affects your life.

Another good reason to live is the never-ending possibility of being grateful.

Geez, you're harshing my mellow, Monica.  :'(

I always find mental stimulation from an enticing conversation to be enough to live for.  :)

Also, it would be my luck should I find my reason to live, i die.

Quote from: DianaP on November 17, 2012, 11:09:25 PM
Geez, you're harshing my mellow, Monica.  :'(

¡Te pido disculpas por ser tan nube gris, amiga!

For me, thinking about life inevitably brings up the whole thing about us being mortal.

Life is bittersweet, but we strive to make it the sweetest it can be, right?  ;D

Quote from: DianaP on November 17, 2012, 05:08:51 PM
How altruistic of you. See, if I committed suicide, I wouldn't be able to learn cool words like altruistic.  :)

Serendipitous, don't you think?

Keep living.  Keep learning.

Quote from: monica.soto on November 17, 2012, 10:38:38 PM

The thing is, when people are suicidal, none of these things matter, and no on can truly help
...If someone wants to kill themselves, short of interning that person, there's nothing we can truly do...

There is much truth here.  In my limited experience, to the truly depressed, suicidal person, all of the things others have listed do not matter - they are incapable of seeing beyond their shut down horizon.  They are in a place where the most important thing you can do is listen, and let them know you care and will be there for them.

Because I owe so much to so many people, that I have to keep going to help them.

Thanksgiving with my mom and brother and his fiance. That will be a delightful treat :)

there is so much earth that i want to see.

i want to act,sing, and write stories about trans people.

These are mine. Feel free to use them.
What if something good happens and I miss it?
Life is fascinating.
The world is fascinating.
Power.
Look at how much I survived. -> Look how strong I am. -> Haha! I'm awesome!

Quote from: Snowpaw on November 18, 2012, 03:44:37 AM
Thanksgiving with my mom and brother and his fiance. That will be a delightful treat :)

Thanks for remind me Snowpaws! The Turkey is thawing, and the girls and I -icluding my future daughter in law :) are going to cook a feast for all our boys.

I love them all so very much, I want to see and spoil my grandchildren.

I hold some intense, powerful, nontraditional spiritual reasons for why one should never take her own life, but I don't think that many people would understand what I was talking about if I state them here.  I learned so much about the nature of life and death and suicide during the 30 months that I was the sole caregiver for my spouse who eventually died of tongue cancer in 2005. 

After Wendy died in my arms, I thought that I would never love again.  Not only was a wrong about that, I had no idea how good my life was about to become.  On the second anniversary of my partner's death, I met the woman who would turn out to be the love of my life.  It might sound crazy to some, but I remain in 2-way communication with my dead former partner, and it was she who put Peaches in my path, it was my dead partner who very strongly encouraged me to stay close to Peaches, because I wasn't feeling it in those first days.  By the end of 2 weeks, I knew that I had met the love of my life, and Peaches knew it too.  Six months later, we were married.  Five-and-a-half years later, our love and our life together is still getting better, more joyful, more exciting and more intense by the moment.

Don't give up 5 minutes before the miracle.  We have no idea what life has in store for us.  I would never in a million years have wanted to miss this opportunity to grow without limits in true love!

Big Hugs!   :-*
Miharu

Quote from: monica.soto on November 17, 2012, 11:20:57 PM
¡Te pido disculpas por ser tan nube gris, amiga!

No te preocupas, estaba bromeando.

Miharu, that was beautiful. I almost cried.  :'( :)