words

{01.22.2017}

Bullying and depression. It's an epidemic that people pretend to care about but no one truly seems to care. It's all the stories...

"Oh, this is what happened when this boy was bullied," and "This is how this girl responded."

But what about "Here's why the star athlete committed suicide," or "Prom Queen struggles with anorexia."

Do you ever wonder why the people that seem to have no issues, do the things that they do?

I believe...I believe that this depression epidemic will never truly be solved. We're never going to be able to fix the insecurity issues, no matter how hard we try.

It's the quiet boy in your first period class, the one you always think about talking to but never act on it. The one who doesn't care who sees his hurt and heartache. As if maybe, he wants someone to see it, maybe he's silently begging for help. Nobody knows what goes on in his own home, night after night. His mother and himself, fighting with his stepfather, who has problems of his own. That's why sometimes, he might be a little bruised and blue when he shows up late, despite the efforts to cover it with concealer from time to time. He's the oldest with three younger sisters that he adores, so he takes the blame for any and everything just to keep them safe.

Maybe the girl who jokes about ending it all. The pretty one that everyone loves, so everyone just dismisses her comments. She's always giddy and smiling, there's no way she would do anything. But she has her own issues too. You know her, too, always seems happy but she's never truly content, still just trying to glow in spite of those who tried to bring her down.

We need to pay attention to the words we hear around us, because they're not always jokes. Once in a blue moon, maybe, but there are people ending lives because they took words too seriously. Others didn't listen closely enough, deaf to someone else because they were too engulfed with themselves and blind to obvious actions that waved red flags in their faces, a scent of danger under their noses. But because of our ignorance, stubborn nature, and carelessness, we lost an innocent heart in the mess of a house fire, burned to rubbish with harsh words and actions. When are we going to learn to love instead of only fighting?