“What are the reasons to live?“, Matt asked his wife as he felt sad and lonely. He has lost interest in everything that gave him happiness. He wanted to enjoy life, but lately, everything made him sad. It felt like there was a dark cloud over his head all the time. He wanted to find some reasons to stay alive.

In this article, we will discuss what is depression and how it affects our life. We will also explain why people with depression commit suicide. Lastly, we will discuss reasons to live and why you should stay alive.

Before we proceed, let us understand important terms – depression, and suicide.

• Depression – What we described in the introduction about Matt is a classic example of depression. It is a common mental health issue in which people feel extremely sad and lonely. They lose their will to enjoy things and live life.
• Suicide – People who purposely decide to end their life, commit suicide. Often, people who are depressed commit suicide. This is because they do not find any reasons to live.

 

If you are undergoing some form of sadness right now, you may feel completely isolated from others. You may want someone to talk to you, however, sometimes that may not be enough. As someone who feels sad, you may have support but still, feel like people don’t understand you. Not being understood and feeling like a constant failure can be the main reason to not live. However, we will help you turn these thoughts around.

A reason to live may not randomly pop up in your head, you may have to look deep within. Let us discuss some reasons to stay alive.

Things Change

If you always feel like the world is collapsing under your feet, no amount of support will change how you feel. If you are going through a tough situation and someone says “It will change” and “Things will get better”, how will you feel?

Frustrated, angry, or irritated? Why do you think this is so? While you may have no reason to live, your friends look at the situation in a different way. While the words they say may be generic, it is important to understand that nothing is constant, things change. Therefore, even if you feel there is no reason to stay alive right now, this can change. No emotion or situation remains the same.

You Have Control of Your Life

Remember, the choice is yours. You may feel like there is no purpose to your life, but your reason to live and stay alive does not depend on work, relationships, or your personal life.

If you found purpose in work, and now that has gone away, it can create a void. You can reassign purpose to something else in your life. This can be done for other areas of your life such as the loss of a loved one, broken relationship, and so on.

Be Kind to Yourself

When you face a setback in your life, you lose your reason to live. However, your mistakes don’t define you. We are all human beings who are not perfect and may make mistakes from time to time. Your mistakes may feel like the end of the world, but the future is not written in stone. Moreover, time heals all wounds and lessens the pain.

While you may feel miserable and sad right now, we can help you find reasons to live and stay alive. When life seems meaningless, giving up seems like an easy option. Remember, our mistakes or difficult situations do not define us. Here are some things that can help you reconnect with yourself and find a new purpose in your life.

Connect with Nature

When you feel like there is no reason to live, look at the small joys in life. You can enjoy time in nature – sunrise, sunset, birds chirping, starry sky, walking barefoot on the beach, and so on.

Focus on Self-Care

When life seems tough, we stop taking care of ourselves. Hence, if you want to find your reason to stay alive, start by taking care of yourself. Go for a haircut and a spa session. Take a day out and enjoy a day of shopping, watching movies and relish a cheat meal. Along with this, focus on your health. You can do meditation, and yoga or join a fitness class. Meditation and yoga can help you work on your negative thoughts, be calm and refocus on yourself.

Find a New Hobby

If you have been going through a tough time, it can be very difficult for you to find things that give you joy. It can be very difficult to go back to your old self and enjoy things that once gave you happiness. However, there are always new hobbies that can help you find a reason to live and stay alive. You can take up cooking, painting, drawing, learning a new dance form or musical instrument, or just joining a book club.

Reconnect with Friends

When you feel sad and lonely, you may shut people off. This is because you feel people don’t understand you. Sometimes you may also feel like you are bringing people’s moods down because you are sad. However, reconnecting with friends can be a good reason to live.

Do Volunteer Work

Sometimes, helping others can help us find ourselves. A good way to find a reason to live is doing volunteering work at any NGO. You can do some selfless service at religious groups or organizations. Along with this, you can provide foster homes for cats or dogs. When you shift your focus to the less fortunate, you can appreciate the small things in your life and find a reason to live.

Seek Professional Help

Depression can put you in a loop of negative thoughts and make you question the purpose of your life. However, with professional help, you can re-explore your interests and find new reasons to live and stay alive.

While finding your reason to live can be a long and difficult journey, you should not give up. When you can rebuild your confidence, you will be able to see your life more clearly. A good tool you can use is the self-help course, Low Self Esteem, which will help boost your confidence and deal with any negative thoughts.