"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide."
This is how Albert Camus starts his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, in which he explores
the answers for why one should not kill himself and what he calls "the absurd."
In a world full of formless chaos we strive to find meaning.
We feel the need to understand, yet there is only silence.
But even if we discovered that life was in fact meaningless, there would still be a plethora
of reasons to experience and enjoy life.
Before we go any further, I would like to direct a few words to the beautiful individual
listening to this, to you.
Most people have suicidal thoughts or feelings of depression at some point in their lives.
It's nothing to be ashamed of.
In times of desparation we aren't weak.
On the contrary, we have come so far and endured so much.
It is quite understandable that we need to catch our breath.
We have more burdens on our mind, on our shoulders, than we can carry at that moment.
We're unable to cope with the amount of pain that we're suffering.
And it's important to remind ourselves that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary
problem.
It is not how bad the problem is, but how badly it is hurting us.
And we may not believe that we can be helped, but nothing could be further from the truth.
We can be helped.
It is alright to feel lost.
We don't need to have all the answers right away.
In fact, nobody really knows completely what's going on.
I do not know you personally.
I don't know what you're struggling with or what has happened to you in the past.
I think we've all been in a dark spot at some point.
A place where we might've thought that there's no way out or perhaps that noone loves and
cares about us.
Maybe you're in such a place now and you're feeling an overwhelming amount of grief.
I want you to know that you are not alone and that it is okay to feel the emotions you're
feeling.
The world can appear very cruel and unforgiving.
I am sorry you are going through pain.
I'm very sorry you've had to go through it in the past.
My heart goes out to you and maybe things aren't as bad as you perceive them.
If I may I would like to offer you my help in the only way I know how, with words of
encouragement that I believe to be as close to the truth as can be.
I want to tell you about the myth of Sisyphus.
Sisyphus was the cunning king of Corinth in ancient mythology, who was punished by the
gods for his rebellious nature.
For all eternity he was to roll a boulder up a steep mountain, only to have it roll
back down to the bottom, when he reaches the top.
He would hopelessly toil in perpetuity.
In reference to this Albert Camus writes ... "At the very end of his long effort measured
by skyless space and time without depth, the purpose is achieved.
Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world whence
he will have to push it up again toward the summit.
He goes back down to the plain.
It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me.
A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself!
I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which
he will never know the end.
That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour
of consciousness.
At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs
of the gods, he is superior to his fate.
He is stronger than his rock."
He is superior to his fate, stronger than his rock!
Sisyphus' punishment is, as Albert puts it, "representative of the human condition."
When we compare this tale to our own lives, it is not hard to see the similarity.
We begin rolling our boulder up a steep hill every Monday morning.
On Friday evenings we reach the summit, the boulder rolls back down within moments, but
we have the weekend to reflect, as we're walking back down.
It is just that most of us rather find comfort in distractions.
The last thing we want to think about is Monday morning and the task of pushing that heavy
rock uphill lying before us without any certainty that we will ever find an escape from it.
You can choose, although it's not perceived as a choice by most, to continue to be a slave
to your rock or you can choose to look at your struggle from a different perspective,
in which you accept the absurdity of life and the fact that struggle is always going
to be a part of it and thus become the master of that rock.
Suddenly, it's not you pushing that boulder uphill, it's the boulder pushing you.
"The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy."
You want to stop looking at things so gravely.
When you're going through pain, when you're struggling to get by, when you try so hard
to push through any hindrances and there seems to be no hope of success or positive change
... I'd like to offer you the approach Sisyphus takes.
Accept the situation... that's the first thing.
Acceptance of the present, no wishful thinking, no victim mentality, no mental escape to past
and future.
You choose to be stronger than your rock.
You hold your head high, because you are not defeated.
By embracing the present as your decision to face life's hardships head on is a victory
in itself.
Happiness lies in movement, in constant growth, it's not a destination.
When you think you need x, y or z to be happy, you won't be.
It's nice to strive toward things.
It's beautiful to dream big, but your happiness comes from being on and appreciating the journey.
Struggle and pain makes you a stronger person.
You find opportunity in obligation.
You are free to fail.
You can even find hope in hopelessness.
Viktor Frankl, a holocaust survivor, has shown that's possible.
You will have to work as hard and as smart as you can.
Success isn't guaranteed, but so what, at the very least try, then try again unlimited
times.
Only death is certain.
You live once.
Don't throw that away.
Have you seen what kind of people are running for president these days?
We need you.
"What would have become of Hercules do you think if there had been no lion, hydra, stag
or boar - and no savage criminals to rid the world of?
What would he have done in the absence of such challenges?
Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep.
So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into
the mighty Hercules.
And even if he had, what good would it have done him?
What would have been the use of those arms, that physique, and that noble soul, without
crises or conditions to stir into him action?"
- Epictetus The next time you feel like life is getting
a bit too difficult, think of Sisyphus, think of his condition ... and remind yourself that
he is happy.
___ "Everything can be taken from a man but one
thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of
circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
- Viktor Frankl