Life is Strange

In this video game I recently played called Life is Strange, there's a scene in which a friend of the main character (who's friend has been devastated left and right by bullies) is standing on the ledge of a tall building about to jump. The main character normally uses these special powers she inexplicably acquired to rewind time and fix situations, but at this moment she is powerless. She has no other choice than to talk this friend down from the ledge. Now I (as the main character) had to talk her down by way of choosing from multiple things to say and if I said so many wrong things, she would jump. As someone who's attempted suicide twice, this scene unfolding in front of me is more than just a scene. It's my life. It's me on that ledge. At that moment I'm seeing myself on that ledge saying things like "I'm worthless. No one cares if I'm gone. I do more damage than good on this earth. I have no future. No hope. No life." As this girl is saying everything I've ever said to myself, I realize that there is so much more at stake here. I now have to talk this video game character, no me, off this ledge. To me this was so much more about winning and losing would mean losing much more than a life. My heart raced and stopped at the same time. My face turned to stone as I tried not to cry in front of friends who were helping me win the game. I started making decisions on what to say to the broken soul. Every single word that was chosen was every single word I would have wanted to hear from one of my friends when I was about to attempt to kill myself. I said everything I needed to hear from someone else. I had to become that friend, that hero, to save my own life. I had to become my own hero for I knew no one else would save me. It was so strange and nerve wracking and anxiety gripping.  So the end of this story is that I talk her down and save her, but it's not the point of my story. The point is, well, I actually don't know. I didn't think this far ahead. I guess the point is sometimes life is strange and beautiful and tragic and magic. Sometimes you get a strange second chance at life. Sometimes you don't have heroes in your life at the right time or in the right place to save you, so you fail. Hard.  And it's okay to fail. As long as you get back up and save yourself. It doesn't have to be right away. It's okay to stay down for a while and get back up in just enough time for you to be the hero you need for yourself. Sometimes the things you need to hear can only come from you. You may not be the hero you deserve, but you can most certainly be the hero you need.