Dear stranger,
3 million letters delivered. 3 million reasons to stay. Sometimes you only need one.
I’m an 18 year old from Australia, and this letter is for you as much as it is for me. Unlike most people writing letters, I don’t have everything figured out. There’s been lots of overdue words, love, care that I’ve yet to receive but I have found a beautiful reason to stay.
Last year in my final year of high school, someone I knew died. Maybe you know grief too. Maybe you’ve brushed against it, or carried it with you longer than you should have had to. It’s not my first encounter either. Their absence becomes so loud.
It’s hard to say ‘you are loved’ or ‘people would miss you if you weren’t here’, as I don’t know who you’ve got or what you’ve gone through. Personally, I still don’t believe those words after I saw them, they merely reminded me of how much love I’m missing and how lonely I am. If anyone in my life said those words to me though, I would’ve bawled. But what I can tell you is that life is so unfair and you deserve so much more.
Grief changed something in me. I saw how much the small moments in life matter. How much words matter. How their family would do anything just to say one more”I love you”, to share one last hug. Anything to celebrate one more birthday with them.
To give up on life would be doing yourself, your loved ones and the small beauties in life itself the biggest injustice.
If nothing else holds you here, just stay for a little longer. Stay a few more minutes for your loved ones, stay an extra hour or two for those who carry immense pain and grief but still choose to keep going. Stay for the millions of lives that were cut short and realise yours can keep going.
Most importantly, stay for yourself. It may be very difficult. But anything worth doing is. Every small act of defiance, every small will to live is a win, a reward, a promise to yourself that there is hope for a brighter future.
You are stronger and more in control than you believe. We see the invisible efforts you put in, and we see the strength in you that most don’t.
I’m in no position to give advice, but please be gentle on yourself, especially when you go easy on everyone else. And if there’s even a small part of you that wants to be seen and understood, I promise talking really does help. The relief is immeasurable.
It took me 3 tries, but telling your story makes it have less power over you. Maybe you’ll even start to realise people care more about you than you thought. It’s nice to know people have stayed and ended up happy, however there’s a strange comfort in knowing that there’s someone else is feeling exactly what you’re feeling, and is still choosing to stay that makes you feel less alone. It proves, even if the choice is hard, that you can do the same.
You can start small. Start by staying.
From someone who wants to give life another try. And hopefully we can try together.