Better is Not Good Enough

Whales live mostly in the depths of the ocean, but because they are mammals (like humans) and have to breathe air, their lungs demand that they come up to the surface from time to time to inhale and exhale. Under the water, their sheer size keeps them safe from most predators. The time of their greatest vulnerability, when they are literally gasping for breath, is also when humans can most easily attack them. It's a waiting game, really - we know that eventually they will come up for air and then we strike.

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The It Gets Better Project has one goal - preventing teen suicide by adults making videos showing that things do get better. To quote their website, www.itgetsbetter.org ,

Many LGBT youth can't picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can't imagine a future for themselves. So let's show them what our lives are like, let's show them what the future may hold in store for them.

There are over 22,000 videos from politicians, military personnel, sports teams, singers, actors, and everyday people so far, and the number grows each day. But as inspiring as these video can be, it doesn't help a lot when you are faced with abuse from bullies without a reprieve.

Jamey Rodemeyer, a teen who had been bullied, made an It Gets Better video in May of this year. In it he offers hope to those that face similar bullying and tells his own story. Please watch it below.

The video is really busy right now and may not load - click here to watch it on YouTube

He knew all the right things to say, and maybe he even believed it for a while, but after near-constant torment over a period of years, Jamey killed himself on Sunday. It's no coincidence that Jamey had just started high school this year and that he felt it better to die than have to go back there one more day. It devastates me that this is still happening today.

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All animals instinctively want to live, even if the cost of living is great pain and suffering. So the whales rise to the surface, facing whatever slings and arrows we may throw at them. Humans, however, have the ability to choose, and so when the pain at the surface becomes too much, we stay under the water and eventually drown.