... no matter what hollywood and movies like this try to imply.
Keep fighting the good fight, even the severely disabled have a lot to contribute. NEVER give up! It's taking the test and passing it that bring rewards on the other side of all this pain.
I agree, Will made the wrong choice. Life very rarely gives you a 2nd chance at happiness. Instead of embracing this rare and special gift, he was selfish and took the easy way out. So Will could never be what he had been in the past, throwing away his life was not the answer; no matter how much pain and suffering.
Now before you naysayers here claim I have no idea what pain is. I'm a survivor. I've taken the worst pain you can possibly imagine and turned it into my strength.
Granted, not everyone have the fortitude or the will power I have to keep on fighting and there have been times when I felt like giving up was the answer.
But only for a few seconds at most, then I would remember all the wonderful amazing beautiful things there are here and now. A ray of sunlight, a storm of wind and lightning, a lush park, a heart warming movie, books of knowledge, people I care about, who I have to know what happens next in there lives.
I still don't have the most special reason of them all, but I will keep struggling to improving myself. Growing more with every breath, every beat of my heart, until we connect, together.
Most understand life is not easy, no matter who you are or what shape your in. There is always something out there ready to knock you down. The real question is are you going to lay down and die or get up and fight for what you want out of life?
Some people can't handle it, so they give up, and that is there choice. Nevertheless, it's the people that rise back up and give it all they have that succeed in making the world a better place.
Firstly, I want to applaud your courage and strength to overcome whatever it is that you went through or still dealing with. It is inspiring.
I don't necessarily want to argue with you because you make very valid points that I very much agree with. I wanted Will to live too and yeah, perhaps he did make the wrong choice. The thing is, I have no idea what he was going through...
I am going to go ahead and copy and paste something I wrote on this forum a few days ago that sums up my thoughts on this...
"Every case of physical disability is different and yes I believe there is value and meaning in EVERY life. Anyone who chooses to live through their severe disabilities is a very strong individual and I admire them. But on the other hand, I wouldn't think any less of someone suffering from a disability with no end in sight to go in this manner. While still sad and heartbreaking, I believe that assisted suicide is less shocking and easier to accept than someone just killing themselves outright. To end suffering this way, is that not compassion? If a person is truly suffering, and there is no cure or end to that suffering. Don't they have a right to end their suffering in an ethical manner?
I will add that I think the film could have done a better job at conveying some of Will's suffering. But I get that they wanted to keep the film as light and cheerful as they could up until the end.
(Also, I am ONLY referring to people with physical disabilities and more or less severe ones. The argument for able bodied individuals with lets say depression, is a different conversation all together and is out of context for this movie.)"
Basically the point I really wanted to make is that EVERY case of disability along with EVERY individual IS different. There's too many variables involved with each case to pigeonhole that every disabled person should be forced to live. I believe life should be preferred above all else...we only get one. But I am also very empathetic to those who suffer...If there's no way to end it, no cure...and if the individual wants to be put out of their misery in an ethical manner, who are we to say they can't?
Forcing someone to live when they rather die is cruel, but at the same time, it is a sin to commit suicide.
Life is a gift from God.
When someone chooses to die, they're basically walking up to God and saying thanks for your miracle, but I'm going to defy your infinite wisdom Lord.
Despite the fact they were born for a reason, they're ignoring God just because it's too tough, too painful, too depressing.
Now not everyone believes is God anymore, so I suppose that might not be an issue for them....
However, that might be part of the reason why they're so willing to give up, considering drawing on your faith and believing in something greater then yourself are both powerful tools.
Of course, life has always been about free will and choice. As I said before, some people can't handle it, so they give up, and that is there choice.
Nevertheless, it's the people that rise back up and give it all they have that succeed in making the world a better place.
Inadvertently, I believe that you have stated that God is cruel. What purpose could God have on this earth for a person who is suffering day in and day out. Why would God force someone to suffer to this extent for the rest of their miserable lives.
Again, not saying that disabled people or the terminally ill have no meaning or purpose in life. I truly don't believe that. But if a suffering individual wants to end their pain in an ethical manner...for the sake of compassion, let them end it.
OP, have you ever been paralyzed from your neck down for the rest of your life? No? Then shut your pie hole, you ignorant slob.
shareI understand you mean well by your comments. I thought much the same when I was young and naive and had rarely experienced any pain in my life. But, over the past few years I've experienced what I can only describe as unimaginable pain the kind I never even knew existed or was possible and would definitely not wish upon anyone in the world!😠In the midst of such pain and suffering I admit I've even prayed to God for a miracle or to be mercy killed—the pain has been that bad!😫 What made it all the more worse was that everyone—family, friends and medical practitioners!—denied the reality of my pain exclaiming it was all in my head and I was simply experiencing an anxiety attack until seeing a specialist proved them all wrong. From such a nightmarish experience I've come to the conclusion that quality of life is far more important to me than quantity. And I've learned not to judge someone who's intent on dying no matter how "light" their physical or emotional pain and suffering is perceived to be in the eyes of everybody else. Far be it from me to presume to know what is going on in their head or what they are feeling. I'll leave it up to the good Lord Jesus Christ above who alone can judge in mercy and righteousness all of us sinners. Besides in my experience no one—even the terminally ill— wants to die. What is sought, however, is an end to one's pain and suffering. So I, for one, will not condemn another person for choosing to take their own life when their pain becomes all too much to bear in this all too sad world we live in.
sharedakowill11, sorry to read you suffered so much. I liked tour post.
quality of life is far more important to me than quantity. And I've learned not to judge someone who's intent on dying no matter how "light" their physical or emotional pain and suffering is perceived to be in the eyes of everybody else. Far be it from me to presume to know what is going on in their head or what they are feeling
"I could have a good life, but it wouldn't be my life."
He just couldn't deal with his new life, even though he was happy with it??? It just didn't make sense. He couldn't deal with not being perfect anymore, maybe if he could have used his arms, so he could still take care of himself with much help he would have been able to deal with it. But honestly, if he just couldn't deal with the fact he wasn't perfect any more then he would have wanted to kill himself once he started to arthritis in his knees etc. It was a shallow reason to kill yourself. It's like saying if I can't have everything I don't want anything.
Though I liked the movie and got totally engrossed with it the whole time from beginning to end, I still cant accept the decision of Will. Maybe I don't understand it because it's a cultural thing (I constantly think about others before myself, and if I am Will, and I love my family and Lou, I will live for them even when I'm suffering because that is what they want me to be.) I wont let this movie change my beliefs. Even when he will have to count his days for that...I still think that it is better if he will try to live and he should have fought for it till the end. You know, death is the most beautiful thing. To die beautifully means to have been the greatest that you are when you are still living, the most strongest and most hardest person you are, a person that leaves no regrets. I've watched series that are much sadder and more painful than this, this movie didn't let me feel warm inside. It didn't get me any sentimental at all. I can say that what is truly heartwarming is when a person smiles at the face of death knowing that he has much to offer and yet leaves no regrets. Still, I would love this movie for its quality, atmosphere, and cinematography.
Humanity, tell me, are we even at our finest?
Please look more your lives in a more positive way.
Be happy. Be strong. Live.
I've never understood WHY someone like you wishes to FORCE torture on another human being, just because YOU think life is so precious.
shareSorry, but I can't abide sweeping, final moral pronouncements such as this. You don't get to make decisions like this for other people. You don't have that right.
A man who has led an active, athletic lifestyle, traveling the world, trying new things, taking on every challenge that comes his way and seeking others out; a man who is handsome, athletic, daring, adventurous, is probably inevitably going to find life as a quadriplegic to be truly hellish. To go from being a man who could seemingly accomplish anything to a man who can literally do almost nothing for himself, and has to live with chronic pain to go along with it, would be about as great a plummet as anyone could ever experience. From every day being a new adventure, he goes to finding every day to be a depressing, interminable slog. Every day there is helplessness, physical dependency, and physical pain. As the character says, the moment he wakes up in the morning, all he looks forward to is going to sleep that night, and the whole thing being over. And it's never going to get better, not if he waits another fifty years.
You really can't understand why someone might say "no thanks, I think I'll pass." I can.
Now perhaps the whole thing would look different to a different person, with different life experiences, or perhaps it wouldn't. Every person is different. The bottom line is, if a person is suffering under circumstance he or she personally finds unendurable, who are you to say he is wrong? The limits of every person's strength are different. If you respect the rights of an individual to decide for him or her self, then you should also be able to respect this kind of ultimate decision. Live your own life, and best of luck to you doing it. Let other people live theirs. Or not, if that's what they choose.
Maybe its not the answer for you, but it might be the answer for someone else. That's the beauty of a free country.
share