Opinion/Editorial

“NEVER GIVE IN, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER”

 

There is a whole lot more deep meaning to the title quote than merely the words that are spread across the top of this page. The whole quote from Winston Churchill is “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. One always measures friendships by how they show up in bad weather. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
These words by this man who fought so hard to prove, over and over again, that success comes from the ability to face, go forth into and accommodate failure. The societies of earth, all around and across this planet are brothers and sisters of success.

We are all joined by failure, by wanting to give up, to wanting to not be here anymore, sometimes. We are also joined by our need and willingness to lie about that fact time after time. This Op/Ed is about continuing on, no matter what. The reasons for that are many. Humans seldom see or understand the necessity of being part of what is going on to build civilization. The Internet, television and even cell phone technology, tend to minimize individual contributions except for a very rare few. The “rare few” are somehow selected, and then perform as the rare few, seldom making any contributions, anymore except be being examples, as if to say, anybody can become famous and one of the rare few…which is, of course, anything but the truth.

Everyone, every living human, wants all cultural experience to be one of rewarding merit, although merit is one of the last things truly considered in elevating one to the exalted status of the rare few. The other side of wanting to surge upward and somehow join the “rare few” is called suicide.

The rate of suicide has climbed precipitously since the nineties in America, the world’s (by far) most prosperous nation. Almost twice the people commit suicide every year than they did back in the mid-nineties. That fact should not be a fact at all. With increasing prosperity, the invention of the Internet, cell phones and modern smart television, that rate should have plummeted, but it has not. What has happened?

Bad news happened. Have you watched television lately? Have you gone to the movies or spent some time on social media? The new avenues of communication have been taken over by people who profit from everyone feeling bad. The Trump people feel angry and bad about the rest of the population and the rest of the population is angry and feeling bad too. Trolls rake and shuffle through almost all communications today, profiting from embarrassing, social damaging or even destroying people with disdain and without any ability to have them held accountable for such actions. Depressed people all share a communicable disease. It’s almost impossible to be upbeat and not depressed around them, and depression seems to have a special communicable trait…many depressed people only feel better at all if those around them become depressed.

Go back to the start of this article and read what Winston said. This is a man who was, one of the very few most influential people to win World War II. As the war ended, and he was the great leader of all England, Prime Minister, he was tossed out of office, defeated by the largest landslide of votes ever. The people loved him and thanked him and then fired him because they thought a labor leader would be better to lead the country after the war. That was it. Winston being Winston, however, and following some of his own quotes, beat his way back and became Prime Minister again in 1951, to great success.

This article is partially about Winston, but also partially about you. So many of you want to quit. I know, I talk to many of you, as I run this small nosey and sometimes irritating newspaper. I haven’t met one of you yet who I have felt would not sadden so many survivors if you left at your own hand. Not one. You have an impact, your meritorious service is silently and unknowingly rewarded, although depression can so easily and effectively hide the ability for you to see and understand that. Don’t quit. Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never…as you are so prized by people that surround you although mostly invisible.

Your friends and supporters are, at times, invisible and seemingly uncaring, but we are not really. There is love all around you and if you don’t believe that then ask somebody you have just met, at the end of a discussion, if they like you. You will be shocked to hear how much you are liked. Loved. Love is all around you and so the feeling grows.

~ James Strauss

 

 

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