First of all, I just want to say that this is not just another rant about 13 Reasons Why, nor is it an article about whether or not the show is worth watching. So get that out of your head now.
This article is instead about who we would put on our own tapes. For those of you who haven't watched the show, I won't spoil anything. But in order for you to understand this article, you need to know that 13 Reasons Why is a Netflix show about a girl named Hannah who killed herself. Instead of leaving a note, she left 13 tapes for 13 people explaining why they all drove her to end her life. But, I think she forgot someone. The darkest, most dreadful fourteenth tape. The one more evil - worse than any of the other people on the tapes. The one that no one is talking about:
Hannah herself.
Like I said before, this is not an article about 13 Reasons Why. It's about so much more. This article is about our most lethal and fatal enemy, the one we can never get rid of. I'm talking about the one thing that will always stand in our way.
Humans can climb mountains and invent new things every day, but we can almost never get past our own thoughts.
We doubt ourselves more than anyone else can, and our minds have the power to hurt us more than any heartbreak or tragedy ever could. We can empathize for people and their hurt every day, but we can never seem to do it for ourselves. Our thoughts are what kill us - not cancer or bullies.
I've seen people fight their way through the most terrifying hardships and win, and I've seen people give up, too. They don't give up fighting the disease or the bullies or the obstacles that stand in their way; they give up fighting the self-doubt based on the belief that they'll never win. They give up fighting the dark thoughts that constantly tell them they'll never make it. They give up on their goals because they've decided to give in to their own insecurities.
I guess my ending thought is this: life is too tragically beautiful to have a 14th tape. Every love story has scars, just look at Jesus's hands and feet; you'll see. He died so that we wouldn't have to make a 14th tape. He made sure we knew that we were enough. He's our Reasons Why we live. Not every day will be amazing, and I won't stand here pretending like it will be. But life's too short to miss out on this love story because you're too busy making tapes. People love you. Jesus loves you. So what's it going to be?
