Words w/ Comet #3: Animal Jam vs. Reality

Countless times, (and by countless, I mean a lot) have I seen Animal Jam YouTubers saying that they cut themselves or feel the need to commit suicide because of the drama and the bullying that they've experienced on Animal Jam. I know that most people who are reading this post do not feel the need to harm themselves, but if someone happens to pass by my blog, here's a message for you:

DO. NOT. COMMIT. SUICIDE.

Why?

Because your life is worth more than some online person told you. I know it's hard. I know that you want to 'escape.' Do. Not. You will live through this...but you are the only person in control of that. You are capable of handling this...but you are the only person in control of that.

In reality, you hold your life in your hands.

Why would you waste it?

Why would you waste it if you could do so much with your life? Why would you waste it if you could grow up, get a job that you will (hopefully) love, drive, and travel around the world? Why would you get rid of your life just because of what someone online said to you?

Your life is worth more than that. You were put into this world for a reason. You only get to live once. (Well, maybe you get to live more than once, I have no idea. None of us know, and if we do live more than once, we never remember, anyways.) That means that your life is very special. You are so lucky and extremely blessed to live. There are people dying in the world. Right at this moment. You survive from at least, what, I don't know, 1,000 things a day.

Think about it. You are extremely lucky.

And if you still don't buy it, if you still think that your life is worthless...look at the people around the world. They are starving. Hurting. Dying. People who can barely breathe, people who have to live on the streets. If you lived, you could do something for them. If you think YOUR life is worthless, what about other lives?

If you think you shouldn't save YOUR life, why not save others?

If you help people, just a little bit, you'll feel better about yourself, too. You'll begin to love yourself, you'll begin to feel happy that you are helping people. You can even do something small, such as writing a blog post, (like what I'm doing right now.) But I'm not writing this blog post to make myself feel better. I'm doing it for you.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, your life is worth it. It is worth more than this online game and this online person who said such terrible things to you. I know that whatever you are going through is hard, and that it is really painful for you. You can make it through it, I promise you. And then, once you've gone through whatever you've gone through, you'll feel proud.

You'll think, I made it. And then you'll know that you can survive life. Interesting concept, right? Life is truly a really messed up place. But it is also beautiful. Just look around you. Don't look at your computer screen. Look at this world. Look at the sky, the clouds, the animals. Sometimes I just look around and think, "This is amazing." It truly is! We, as humans, are co-existing with these creatures. We've developed our own language, our brains can comprehend things. We can communicate with each other.

And, most importantly, we can help each other.

And that is the main reason why you are here. To help. Whatever you do as your job, it's to help others. If you become a truck driver, you help transport things for other companies and people so that they can maintain their jobs. As a writer, you can help readers develop their vocabulary so that maybe they can become writers, too. As an artist, you can help others understand the beauties of art.

If you are thinking about cutting...

...Well, guess what I'm going to say?

DON'T.

The first thing that I don't understand about people who feel the need to cut or commit suicide is the fact that they never think about talking to their parents. If you committed suicide, how would your parents feel? None of us understand how much our parents love us. I don't yet, either (come on, stop staring at me like that, I'm not that old XD), but imagine this:

Imagine that you had a child, a soft, sweet baby, who you watched grow up. Imagine that you watched him get married, watched him have his own children. Imagine the things that he did that made you laugh when he was a child, or the way he drove you crazy because he would never stop ranting about the new Spiderman movie that came out.

Now, imagine that you found that your child had committed suicide because of what people had said to him. And imagine that he never even told you.

How would you feel?

If you feel the need to cut or commit suicide, please PLEASE PLEASE DON'T. Take a break from the computer. Find other hobbies, like drawing, reading, etc. Listen to some music. Take a walk.

And, most importantly, tell your parents.

You might be afraid that they'll ban you from your computer (OH NOEZ, I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THE COMPUTER FOR A DAY), and chances are, they will. But it's better to not have the computer for a day than for you to not have your life anymore. And your parents will respect you, too, for telling them.

Don't ever hide things from your parents.

I know, it's so easy to lie to them. Don't. Lies only get worse, and they never fully disappear. I mean, I could post videos on my YouTube channel if I really wanted to, but my parents urged me not to. And I don't. Lying to your parents is so hard to do anyway, if I ever feel the need to lie to my parents I just get this terrible feeling in my gut. I suck at lying, and the only thing that I lie about is the fact that "No, I haven't been on the computer that long," (when, in reality, I've been on it for an hour or two.) I'm 100% sure that my parents knew that I was lying, but they dropped the subject. :P

Your parents are the people who can help you the most. I am probably not the most reliable source, since I've never experienced extreme cyber-bullying before, but if you need advice, I'll be right here. :)

Stay strong. God loves you. And if you do not believe in God, someone loves you anyway. Whether it be your parents, friends, teachers. And if you still don't think anyone loves you, I do! I love you because you are reading this, and you have the will to stay alive.

That is why your life is priceless.
~Comet

Words w/ Comet #2: 'Dating'

Hiya jammers! It's been a while since I've last done a 'Words w/ Comet' post, so I decided that it's about time that I wrote another one. Today, we are going to be talking about a pretty interesting and popular topic. 'Dating' on Animal Jam.

There are several reasons why you shouldn't 'date' on Animal Jam:

1. You don't know this person at all. You may think you know them, but you don't know the real person. Many people like to act behind the computer screen.
2. This person could be untrustworthy. (They most likely aren't, but it's always good to be careful!) If they ask you for personal information, never tell them, no matter how trustworthy you think they are. Once they get their paws on your information, they could use it or manipulate and find a way to hurt you.
3. Misunderstandings are most likely to occur. Have you ever had that accident when you talked to someone online but they completely misunderstood your meaning? That can happen any time on Animal Jam, of course, but if your 'partner' misunderstands what you're saying, you could get in online fights, and worse, both of you could be hurt. 
4. This is a game. It's not an online dating website. I understand if you like to hang out with that person, but truly, I'd be weirded out if I did 'love' emoticons with another person online. It's kind of awkward, especially since it's a game. 

If people want to date, well, I guess there's no stopping them. However, 'dating' on Animal Jam could always resort to something dangerous. Just take care and think before you type!

Cheers,

~Comet

Words w/ Comet #1: Bullying

Bullying. We've all heard that word. We've all seen it, too. I've been bullied. In fact, I am going to tell you about a very specific bullying situation that happened to me. It's all done and gone now, but that doesn't justify the fact that it happened.

One day, I was hosting a library party at my den. I had a couple of shelves, some plushies, and books all around my den. I advertised my den, saying, "Library party at my den! Read, chill, and have fun!" I kept at it, walking around, hopping, and dancing. (After all, what other ways can you advertise?) I got a jam-a-gram from a girl (I will not say her name, every post that I post will remain confidential, because this problem is resolved now) that said: "? How is this a library? I thought there would be more shelves. Lol." 

I responded, (bad mistake, mind you, don't ever respond to rude jam-a-grams), saying, "It IS a library, there are shelves and books."

I got a response back that said, "Yeah, but I wasn't expecting only two shelves and one plushie." 

I was starting to get irritated, I kept responding with a flurry of Jam-A-Grams, and then the person eventually said, "I will get you banned if you keep on doing that," and I never heard from them again. I blocked them. But I was crying. I was full-on crying, even if they had really not done that much. I'd been in worse situations than this one, too. This one was just borderline hurtful, and yet I didn't know why it made me cry. Maybe I'm just oversensitive. Or maybe it was because no one had ever threatened to ban me before. 

I talked to some of my friends about what happened, and they all comforted me, but it still lingered in the back of my mind. 

Days later, (maybe weeks), I had unwanted items on trade. I saw the same girl again. I could easily identify her by the red, 'blocked' circle next to her name. With determination, I unblocked her. I have a little code with myself; if I block someone and meet them again, I unblock them. I'm not sure why I do it, I just do. I don't like having long block lists. 

Anyways, she began trading me for the unwanted items, and I accepted them all. They weren't very good trades, but I decided to send the traded items to my friends afterwards, because after each trade, she responded with a smile, or a "Oh, thank you so much!" and messages that made me glad to accept the trades. After all of my items were gone, she thanked me again, and we merrily moved on.

No, we aren't buddies, we never were, but consider it forgiven. I doubt she even remembered me, but I remembered her, and I forgave her. Maybe she forgave me, maybe she unblocked me. The world may never know. I've had several instances like these where I meet someone, have a little argument, block them, move on...and then I find them again, unblock them, and move on again. Sometimes forgiveness is the best answer. Actually, forgiveness is nearly ALWAYS the best answer. It feels good to forgive, and it feels good to be forgiven.

Bullies are unkind, I know that, and I don't appreciate the fact that they feel the need to insult others...but then again, maybe they just want to be forgiven, too. :)

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." -Mahatma Gandhi