A lot has happened since I last posted. The elephant in the room, however, is that I lost the love of my life, the one girl who I felt was my true soulmate. I went even deeper into my depression, wanting to kill myself. I knew that this wasn’t good, so I desperately reached out for help. It seemed as if the struggle between school, work, a past relationship, and family just exploded in my face. The explosion, ignited by the relationship, really caused me to break down, and take a look at myself. Who I am, what I’ve become, who I want to be, all of these were carefully looked into. I’ve always prided myself on being able to easily handle any problem that was thrown my way, and it seemed like God had to knock me down a few pegs, so he did. God sent me these challenges for a purpose, and that was, in my view, to bring me closer to Him.
I have had depression and suicidal thoughts for four years, pretty much when high school started. I was in a different world, just a small fish in a sea of sharks, and there was blood in the water. It wasn’t the students out for blood though… It was the teachers. One in particular. Mrs McHalpine, algebra nine teacher. She hated me. Most of the kids in her class were the hard workers, I, however, was a slacker. I rarely did my homework, and didn’t really pay attention in class. I did, however, manage to get the school work done, and pass all of my tests and quizzes. She hated that, and she hated me. She tried so hard to fail me, but I passed by the skin on my teeth.
At that time, certain “changes” occured in my body. I began maturing, and noticing girls… not for their cooties, but for their features. One, especially caught my eye. I felt the need to acquire a girlfriend. So I tried, and failed, multiple times. I also was in wrestling at this time. I was a horrible wrestler, I didn’t win one match my freshmen year, but I kept coming back for more and more punishment. Wrestling made me feel alive, for the first time.
Time went on and I started doing better in school, and I started winning in wrestling matches, I had a few friends, and I had a happier life. Something seemed to be missing, though. Like there was an open pit that I could not fill. I remembered that i did not have a girlfriend. All of my other friends were getting theirs, but I was not. How unfair. Surely enough I was a good guy and all, but no one ever really wanted to date me. I had plenty of female friends, but that’s all they were… friends. That’s the first time I’ve really felt hopeless.
At this time, my brother and sister were growing up, enough to be a nuisance, and they quickly learned how to get under my skin. They were good at it.
That summer I had finally found what I was looking for… a girlfriend. Ker and I had known each other for practically our entire lives, and it just felt right. When the relationship started, pure bliss, but about a year later, I learned her true colors. I tried to break up with her, multiple times, and she wouldn’t let me. I found someone else that I had feelings for, and the unthinkable happened. I cheated on her. I used this as ammunition to break up with her finally, and it worked.
My Junior year, I quit wrestling, one of my three regrets. I quit for three reasons: To find a job, to leave the assholes on the team, and because my ankle and knees got bad. I’ve regretted it to this day. I’ve prided myself on never giving up, and I gave up.
After I had broken up with my first girlfriend, me and my second girlfriend took off like a rocket. Everything was bliss as it should be. I felt deeply and madly in love with her. We even got to the point of talking about marriage and children. I fell for her, hard. A problem arose, though. I fell so hard for her that I completely feared losing her, which made me paranoid and obsessive. The very way I was trying to protect her became my downfall. The relationship started to go south, and I tried hard to save it, but it was as if she was trying to break up with me. The smoking gun, however, was when she wanted to go to prom with her ex. I made her chose between him and me, she chose him. I was devastated. I lost the love of my life. I became severely depressed and suicidal. I tried perhaps three times. It was over. The best thing that ever happened to me was gone. I still tear up to this day writing about it. Another of my three regrets. I lost a part of myself when that happened, a part that I think I’ll never get back. I went into therapy for it. To this day, I still am horribly attached to her, though I wish I wasn’t.
That brings us to today. All of these events have shaped me to be the person that I am today, and as I write this, I am constantly re-evaluating, checking myself to be who I am, whoever that is. All of these events made me look back on myself. My past failures turn into experience and lessons. Life is the best, but hardest teacher. You will never stop learning until your last breath.
The first lesson is love. Never fall for someone so deep that you depend on them to make you happy. That’s what happened to me, and I wound up getting screwed. Love is something that one can not describe. Love is so complex that it is beyond our own understanding. Never give someone too much of yourself, because you’ll get screwed in the return. Love someone for who they are, and try to deal with what they become, because people change. People always change, we can not control that, but we can control what we do with who they become. Iris became someone that I hated. she always treated me like shit, and then rubbed my face in it, trying to twist it to appear as my fault.
Second lesson is when things get too complicated, or go too far south, cut your losses and get out. This is different from giving up. Randy Pausch said “We can not change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” Some times this means you have to fold.There are no more benefits, so cut your losses and get out. Nothing more is there for you to gain.
Third lesson is never bottle up your emotions. Picture, if you will, a balloon. Every time you bottle something up, that balloon gets another breath of air put inside it. That balloon will become fuller and fuller until eventually it explodes. An explosion is never good for anyone.
The last lesson (that I can think of) that i have learned is that you’re never alone. There are always people out there willing to help. I got so bad that people became concerned about me. Even if there is no one there. There is still one being that loves you and will bring comfort to your soul. that being is GOD. God is always there for you, and will never forsake you. If you are going through a hard time, that is God trying to pull you closer to him.
Through all of the doubts, wars, and things that have happened, through all of the regret in my life, there is one thing that I will never lose. That is myself. I may seem to become hurt, even beside myself, but I will never give up. I have too much to live for.
“I can’t understand this mess, I am more than this, I am more than worthless.” -Drowning Pool, “More than Worthless”