“Everyone has a little bit of ‘I want to save the world’ in them. It’s okay if you only save one person. And it’s okay if that person is you.” — Unknown

It’s hard to fathom that in the large picture, the ever-broadening scale of the universe, that one life can matter. It’s even harder to believe, sometimes, that your life specifically matters.

It’s easy to shoulder the world’s problems as your own. There are terrible people doing absolutely horrendous things all around the globe. Children are starving, innocents shot, and our fragile ecosystems are shutting down because they simply cannot accommodate our technologically enhanced lifestyles. How could your problems ever matter when all of these things are happening? We need to help these people. We need to save everyone.

Maybe you aren’t thinking on a global scale. Perhaps you instead choose to act as a confidant to your friend group. You carry each one of their struggles, to help lighten their burden, while your back aches from the weight. It doesn’t matter because you don’t matter. You’re just here to make sure that everyone else is okay.

Do you know what happens after adding all of that weight? It’s simple physics, really. You can only add so much weight and pressure on an object before it breaks. And we live in a broken society.

According to SAVE, suicide is the 10^th leading cause of death in the United State for all ages. There is one death by suicide in the US every 12.3 minutes, and depression affects 20-25% of Americans ages 18+ in a given year. It is almost unfathomable how many people in America alone do not understand the value of their life.

If you are reading this, and you’re not sure if you matter in the grand scheme of things, I’m here to tell you that you do. Maybe you haven’t found your niche in life, or maybe you haven’t met the right people yet. Maybe you’ve been hurt enough to want to close down forever because it’s less painful than opening yourself back up to the uncertainties of the world. There is always more out there to discover, and even if you’re not happy right now in this moment, you can be. But you have to fight for it.

Living isn’t easy. It’s the hardest thing that you’ll ever have to do. But suicide isn’t brave or courageous. You’re not doing anyone any favors. All you would leave is a trail of heartbreak and sorrow in your wake. So always keep fighting. And don’t fight because I’m telling you to, don’t fight because that’s what’s expected, or because you’re afraid of disappointing people. Fight because you want to, because if you don’t fight for you, then you won’t be able to fight for long.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you’re struggling. I know that there are a number of times that I’d rather fight on my own than tell someone that I’m having a rough go of it. In the end, I find it easier to struggle with friends and family by my side. Sometimes we need that extra push to get us in the right direction. Forget about everyone else’s problems for a moment. Forget about the world. Focus on you.

We all have a little bit of “I want to save the world” in us. It’s okay if you only save one person. It’s okay if that person is you.