Depression. We've all dealt with it at some point or another. Maybe it was because of a death in the family, or in my case, a tough time finding the solid ground at rock bottom. Illness, heartbreak, uncertainty...you get the point. What I'm saying is, everyone at some point experiences feelings such as this. The belief that life isn't worth living and all they need is a reason to live one more day, to stay on this planet. And if they get that reason every one of those painful emotions will stop and they'll actually be happy. I find that rather disheartening. You see, one of the hardest pills to swallow is this: If you're looking at the world to find a reason to stay in the world, you will find a multitude of things that make life livable, yet they do nothing to fill that hunger, that thirst for meaning.
If you look at the world for permanent fulfillment you will find none because the world is not our permanent home. So life, from a Catholic perspective, in a nutshell, is all left up to two things:
1) What can we take with us?
2) What do we leave behind?
It's a known fact that we are all going to die someday. It's a fact of life, but the problem is there are so many people that suffer, on a day-to-day basis, based on the fact that they were never informed of things that are indeed permanent. They're forced to "go with the flow", which mainly consists of living in the same rut that several college students, or just people in general, go through: wake up, eat, go to work/school, try and hold out till the weekend, spend the weekend drinking and partying with friends, wake up with a severe hangover, recover, go back to bed, repeat. Is this what you were meant for? No. Is this what you believe God put you on this earth to do? No.
Or maybe you found yourself in this rut for too long and you have no idea of how to escape it, well my friend it's just those two things (and some other stuff, but we'll get to that later). So, what can you take with you? Memories, knowledge, experiences, who you are as a human being: all within your immortal soul. What do you leave behind? Money. Power. Titles. Family, Friends and other material goods.
If you are in the position where you feel the need to ask: "Is there a reason to live?" rephrase it and ask: "What would happen if I died today?"
Who would be affected? What purpose would it serve if you took your own life? If it comes to that...remember, people die every day, without purpose, many by their own hands. Make it your life's purpose to find your purpose and in that purpose, you find fulfillment and security in what kind of person God expects you to be.
"If the world hates you, understand that it hated me first. If you were of the world, the world would love you as it's own. Instead the world hates you, because I have chosen you out of the world." (John 15:18-19)
The sooner you recognize that life is not worth living, the sooner you should find something to die for. Because that's what life is all about. Making the world a better place for future generations. This was recognized by the Crusaders of the medieval period. Many if not all of them recognized the internal need of an individual to have a place in the world. Yet still, they did not live within the fantasy that humans are material beings, and that alone. Yes, humanity lives in the material world, and there are material pleasures, such as wealth, or sexual gratification yet there is a greater more spiritual aspect to humanity, not just a material persona, but also an eternal soul. And like our material bodies we must care for and nurture it. The Crusaders were willing to die, because they believed in the spiritual nature of humanity and their eternal souls, as well as the souls of their countrymen. They were willing to die so that their countrymen can preserve their souls through their faith, and not have them become enslaved by the savage Ottoman hordes. They were willing to die for their beliefs, the same way the Cristeros were. They knew what it meant to be alive, because they were willing to die in defense of God, God's truth, and their people.
Now unless you're the reincarnation of Lavrentiy Beria, there's no reason you should off yourself. You just need to find something to fight in defense of i.e. God, Values, A Civilization, The Right to Religious liberty, etc. The world nowadays has become a post-modern nightmare, wholly without meaning or consequence. It pushes things that will only provide temporary satisfaction. So much so that people have forgotten what it means to be alive. People have gotten lost in the idea that they will live forever, because the world we live in now offers no reason to live. That fact alone, despite it's implying the opposite, is a reason to live. Simply put, if you have no reason to live, consider what is worth dying for, something greater than yourself, and fight for it, until you're either killed in the pursuit of that reason, to live it every day of your life, or die of natural causes, having lived and pursued it, battling the contrary and leaving behind a legacy of meaning, you will be remembered and recognized for long after you're gone.
