Suicide

Source:
Eugene Loh, 938LIVE, a station of MediaCorp Radio
IMDB

This world can sometimes be hard to live in, and occasionally, the pain becomes so acute and sources of relief so rare, that one may contemplate ending it all.

If you're having such a thought, don't feel that you're weak or foolish. There is nothing wrong or unusual about the way you feel. Things must be going pretty badly if you're contemplating suicide. But if death has become an option for you, then things can't get any worse. From here, you can rise if you want to.

No one has ever solved anything by choosing death. In fact, it's the ones who are faced with the very real prospect of death who discover how valuable and rich life can be.

In Stephen Daldry's film "The Hours", actress Julianne Moore plays Laura Brown, a character whose façade of a loving, dutiful housewife belies an emotional and romantic emptiness that threatens to engulf her. Unable to live the life she truly wants to live, she is finally driven to the thought of suicide, but decides against it at the eleventh hour.

Strangely enough, the option of death gave her the strength to continue living. When she realised that she could always take her life if it got unbearable, suddenly, her life didn't seem so hard. The world of infinite opportunities opened up to her. Fear of life and social expectations no longer gripped her, and she subsequently went on to live the life she always wanted.

In Paulo Coelho's book "Veronika Decides to Die", the protaganist is brought back from the brink of death after she takes a near-fatal dose of sleeping pills. However, the doctor tells her that as a consequence of her action, her heart has been so weakened that it could collapse in a matter of weeks. Faced with the possibility of death like the character of Laura in "The Hours", Veronika experiences a similar epiphany - that death is always possible, for everyone, young or old, happy or depressed. Death can come to you unexpectedly or you can invite it; either way, it makes life all the more precious and the world all the more beautiful and promising.

Suicide is a hasty catapult into the unknown. What you couldn't find here, you can be sure you won't find in death. Life however gives you the opportunity to live it in any way you like. The pain may be unbearable now, but it will not last. Death comes to us all; the time and place though, is not for us to determine. Till then, choose Life - seize the opportunities that only Life can bring.

Author’s comments: The title caught my attention. In terms of work, it had been a bad day for me. But my colleague had driven us out to sample some CNY goodies thus generally; this day is still not so bad. Actually my work area may seem ulu but it does have its treasures haha. And though I left office in a super bad mood because of some last minute unsolvable bug and user issue, a short chat with a colleague kinda alleviate the bad mood. At least it beats driving home in silence, or worst, speed driving home? Yah I realised lately I have a tendency to speed just so my whole mind can concentrate on driving only…

Actually The Hours left a very deep impression on me. I still remember how solemn this movie was and seriously only God knows why we had chosen to watch it. A movie on 3 ladies in 3 timeline all tied by the story “Mrs. Dalloway”. One can get lost while watching it. Strangely, I never felt inclined to read “Mrs. Dalloway”.

Anyway if I have time, maybe I will find Paulo Coelho’s book to read. But it is going to be shelved for very long… Come to think of it, The Hours was a 2002 (Released 2003) production, that’s so long ago too…

Virginia Woolf: Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast.

Angelica Bell: What happens when we die?
Virginia Woolf: What happens?
[pause]
Virginia Woolf: We return to the place that we came from.
Angelica Bell: I don't remember where I came from.
Virginia Woolf: Nor do I.

When the going gets tough... the tough gets going...