Discussion Is life really worth sticking around for?

[Blueberry Panic]

People always say that things will get better but why wait and see ? When chances are they do and then something else comes along and makes things worse again?
It's a endless cycle.

 

[Pale_Rider]

Yup thats what they always say.

 

[Dejected 55]

When I was 25 and still had not been on a date or kissed a girl or anything... I was telling people that it seemed to me that if I wasn't at least in some kind of relationship by the time I was 30 that it wasn't likely to happen. People said I was young and had plenty of time and all the usual platitudes.

Skipping the details of the very few things that happened after that... Here I am at 55 and I still have never been in a relationship, had maybe only a handful of dates and literally no contact or date of any kind with a woman in well over 20 years. Long past my initial 5 year window of fear of failure... so all those people back then who swore they'd see me in 5 years to say how wrong I was... I wish I was wrong... but I've lived more than twice as long since that time, and relatively little has changed in my life.

People STILL keep trying to tell me it gets better. It really doesn't though. Not even a little.

 

[timechained]

I was thinking this today as well.

On the one hand I don't want to hurt those around me, but on the other hand I am just getting more miserable...

 

[encore]

the truth is that nobody can predict whether or not it's going to get better for any given person. life is pure randomness which we, in my opinion, have little control over all things considered. saying it's going to get better for certain, or the opposite, claiming it will only keep getting worse is all the same in the end, it's just a gamble and a random guess. statistically speaking, most people's lives alternate between being good and bad, sometimes with those streaks lasting longer or shorter, but then again, you'd have to ask yourself what kind of "good" would make it worthwhile to stick around, and what kind of "bad" would reinforce your decision to ctb.

on a somewhat related personal note, i kinda gave up on the idea of life getting better overall because no matter how my life improves, i would need to continue living with the brain and body i already have - and those two things can only get so much better as i age. i can't run away and change into a whole different person, which i desired my entire life, so no matter what happens - unless its an earthshattering miracle of some sort that i cant envision as of right now - there is no reason for me to count on "better times" when making a decision about suicide.

 

[itsoverforme303]

Not for me lmao

 

[catfriend]

mm, that is the dilemma -- whether the 'ups' justify the 'downs'...

for me, they don't. my quality of life has been subjectively poor up until this point; for reasons that will likely remain constant. so the 'ups' only make the negative number slightly less negative. :)

as an aside, though, i do wonder about those people who suffer their whole lives, only to die of natural causes. the ones who don't ctb despite having plenty of reasons to. do they find suffering meaningful in and of itself? or is the fear of death sufficiently motivating? i suspect it's the latter.

 

[Rynalia]

It's really just gambling.

You can make strides to try and move in a certain direction. You can put effort to try and get the ball rolling.

But whether or not it succeeds, and where the results of your efforts put you, are solely dependent on things far beyond your control.

Anything can happen... So the bottom line is: How long do you want to keep gambling for?

 

[catfriend]

It's really just gambling.

You can make strides to try and move in a certain direction. You can put effort to try and get the ball rolling.

But whether or not it succeeds, and where the results of your efforts put you, are solely dependent on things far beyond your control.

Anything can happen... So the bottom line is: How long do you want to keep gambling for?

gambling is a good way of putting it...

'a strange game. the only winning move is not to play.'

 

[Rynalia]

gambling is a good way of putting it...

'a strange game. the only winning move is not to play.'

It really is.

When you check the patterns of people who have zero to hero stories, it's almost always littered with failures and successes or that one golden opportunity that came their way.

Like props to them for sticking it out, but not everyone wants to be beaten down by life for X amount of times before things start to get better.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

Not to me. Life is not worth sticking around for

Life can get worse a quadrillion times worse

 

[LetMeOut67]

When I was very young I thought suicide was strange. Why would anyone want to die I wondered.
Now I'm old I wonder why anyone would want to live.

 

[Griever]

My life is not worth living, it never was and never will be

 

[FuneralCry]

For me existence could never be worth it and I'd just never wish to exist no matter what rather I only hope and wish for non-existence where all is gone and forgotten about, for me existence could never be desirable at all rather I'd always prefer to not exist than suffer so unnecessarily with no limit as to how much one can suffer and I'll just always find it so torturous to suffer in this cruel, dreadful existence and there's just so much suffering and so much cruelty in existing. I just find it the most terrible tragedy how this existence was even imposed that just causes suffering all for the sake of it and problems there were never a need for with no limit as to how much agony one can feel just to be tortured by old age and cease existing anyway.

 

[Ijustcantanymore]

It is if you have money and power.

Otherwise no, you live to be enslaved and tortured until you die and are told to be grateful for the privilege.

 

[matchalavendercake]

not for me life has gotten even more worse and it has gotten extremely clear that i truly never belong in this reality ^^

 

[ididnotconsent]

I just think things could get a lot worse and fear being around when they do.

 

[LigottiIsRight]

Things could get better, that's theoretically possible at least, but such improvement isn't guaranteed, and pro-lifers tend to assume it is. They also could get worse, it's impossible to know beforehand. No one knows for certain what lies ahead.
Apart from that, in more than a few situations considerable efforts have to be made just to have a chance for things to improve. I personally consider that this need for almost continuous investment of effort in order to reach a desirable state of affairs isn't worth it. But that's just a personal opinion, others may have no problem with that.

 

[Unknown21]

Yes if u are pretty and possess a lot of money.

 

[Hollowman]

No

 

[davidtorez]

People always say that things will get better but why wait and see ? When chances are they do and then something else comes along and makes things worse again?
It's a endless cycle.

Get out while you can . I'm slow to take my own advice, but if I wasn't a coward I'd lead by example

 

[Daenerys Targaryen]

With chronic and incurable diseases, no. Being born is a prison; we're condemned to exist and suffer. If there's something genetic, they shouldn't procreate. They're just looking for their own happiness

 

[22yearsbroken]

I try every day to find one reason.. its hard but i do manage aome days some days its very hard to tbink or breath.. but i still give it a try... its all i can do..

 

[J&L383]

When I was 25 and still had not been on a date or kissed a girl or anything... I was telling people that it seemed to me that if I wasn't at least in some kind of relationship by the time I was 30 that it wasn't likely to happen. People said I was young and had plenty of time and all the usual platitudes.

Skipping the details of the very few things that happened after that... Here I am at 55 and I still have never been in a relationship, had maybe only a handful of dates and literally no contact or date of any kind with a woman in well over 20 years. Long past my initial 5 year window of fear of failure... so all those people back then who swore they'd see me in 5 years to say how wrong I was... I wish I was wrong... but I've lived more than twice as long since that time, and relatively little has changed in my life.

People STILL keep trying to tell me it gets better. It really doesn't though. Not even a little.

I've lived over a half century as well. I don't know if life gets better or worse or if it just stays the same. Maybe "life is what you make of it" but it seems like a crap shoot in my experience. And I never was good at gambling.

 

[OhhDrugzZ]

My life has been nothing but a shitshow up until now, and I can't think of any reason to stay much longer, nor do I know how to keep fighting.

 

[Dejected 55]

on a somewhat related personal note, i kinda gave up on the idea of life getting better overall because no matter how my life improves, i would need to continue living with the brain and body i already have - and those two things can only get so much better as i age. i can't run away and change into a whole different person, which i desired my entire life, so no matter what happens - unless its an earthshattering miracle of some sort that i cant envision as of right now - there is no reason for me to count on "better times" when making a decision about suicide.

I identified with this way too much. Although, I will say... I always believed that even through the suffering IF the miracle ever did happen, it might make the memories of the past suffering go away. I'm not sure if I still believe that. Sometimes when I imagine the miracle, I think that I'm so broken now that even if I got something good in my life, I am past the point of being recoverable to enjoy it. I don't know exactly how to explain what I'm thinking/feeling right now. So it might not make sense.

I've lived over a half century as well. I don't know if life gets better or worse or if it just stays the same. Maybe "life is what you make of it" but it seems like a crap shoot in my experience. And I never was good at gambling.

I usually break even at actual gambling, or lose a little... but I definitely never win. I learned that early on in life. I'm not much of a risk taker. Sometimes I do what seem like crazy things to others, but at that point I've weighed things out and the risk to me actually isn't what it appears to others. As in... I might risk it all for the possibility of a miracle, which looks insane to others... but to me, I'm already lost so that risk of losing it all isn't the same because in my mind I'm already lost anyway.

 

[Godless Heathen]

Honestly that's getting much harder to argue for the way the majority of our generation's future is heading. Odds stacked so high against us economically it's not even funny. Stoicism and adopting a "survivor" mentality has kept me going so far, I see dystopia as already being here.
I'd say I'd be perceived as doing very well financially since I grinded and busted my ass off at 19 and not stressing about life the way many others would but I had to make so many sacrifices I still question if it was worth it. General existence is also getting very fucking tiring to me too like an old song and dance of American consumerism being the few things to hardly forward to and making face for my less to do well family and social circles. Why do I keep up with this? This the great prize for playing these games? Fuck man

 

[LetMeOut67]

I just think the world is so evil that it shouldn't exist.
I see people who have everything I don't and I just think what satanic force created this Darwinist torture chamber. I really hope global warming destroys this planet.I don't want the animals to suffer but everything else can just cease to exist for all I care. It'll be the only revenge we get. I'm sorry if this offends anyone but 40 years of being a punchbag can do that to you.

 

[Dejected 55]

At least a part of the problem is... we live in a society that tells us there are rules and we must obey the rules and obeying the rules is good for everyone... but then the people who obey the rules in just the right way are able to have the most success. If you or I speed, we get the chair... but other people can rob from you and assault you and they get applauded for it.

I don't root for chaos... but I could adapt to chaos. If, for instance, we lived in the world of "The Purge" then at least survival of the fittest would be in play. True, many would be disadvantaged in that world without help... but many of those same people are disadvantaged in this world that has pretend rules.

I feel like I would be less miserable and have a greater chance of success in chaos world because at least then there would be no rules that change every day or favor those in power. In chaos world if you can take it and defend it then it's yours. In our "civilized" world people with power can screw over those without power and you don't have a chance.

 

[wiz_miz_03]

Personally, not for me, I think this planet is too dysfunctional.