“American Dream”
According to most people in America, the "American Dream" is defined as being provided the opportunity to catch their dreams, do whatever they chose to do (as long as it's legal), to settle down with their dream spouse, and to live a plentiful life full of joy and happiness in their dream house. As good as that sounds, life doesn't always pan out the way we've planned. I've never known anyone who hasn't gone through struggles, and I have never known a plan to work out exactly how it was expected to. Not everyone achieves their goal of buying and living in the house that they've always dreamed of, and not everyone is provided equal opportunities to catch their dreams. I say catch instead of chase, because like football, anyone can run down the field chasing the football, but actually catching it is what really matters in the end, right? For these reasons, I do not believe in the stereotypical "American Dream." My "American Dream" is to live a life free from the claws of depression, to have loyal and caring family and friends, and to make a difference in the peoples' lives who are misunderstood and whose souls are lost in the darkness.
Depression takes angels out of the light, parents from children, children from parents, wives from husbands, etc. Depression is just another word for meth. They may not be the exact same thing, but the end results of them if no help is given are the same. I've struggled from depression for years. I had no help for a long time because nobody knew I needed it, and because I was too afraid to ask for help I suffered alone and knew no other way of life. As time went on, I increasingly became more and more engulfed by the darkness of my lonely illness, until I didn't think there was any way out besides taking my own life. I tried to put off suicide as long as I could by numbing my feelings with drugs and alcohol (my last resort), but they didn't seem to silence the voice of impending doom who was screaming out my name. After a few failed attempts to overdose on over the counter medications, I decided to try cutting my wrists with a double edged razor so I could bleed out but could never cut deep enough. I came to the conclusion that someone somewhere didn't want me to die, and on that note I decided to look for Jesus and I found him. I have recovered tremendously, but I'm still not "normal," and I never want to be back in that place of endless hopelessness. My "American Dream" is to be free from the claws of depression, because nobody should ever have to feel like there is no hope; there's always someone there for you who wants to help, if you want it. All you have to do is ask.
If the only thing I have to my name is my family and my friends, then I will be the richest person of all. Money runs out, but love never ends. There is no price, no amount of money that can ever be placed on the loyalty of true friends and family. When you have nothing, your family and true friends have your back. If I ever need a place to escape from my own thoughts for a while, my friends never fail to provide me with a place to sleep, and whenever my family needs money, my grandparents always take care of us. When I was in the hospital, the bill came out to over fifteen-thousand dollars. My parents, being teachers, have a pretty low income and were stressing over how they'd be able to afford this with Christmas being a few weeks away. With insurance paying approximately ten-thousand dollars of my medical bills, we still had five-thousand dollars that was due. We took a trip to my grandparents' house for Christmas, and my grandmother presented my mother with a check for a couple thousand dollars. That was a Christmas I'll never forget. My "American Dream" is to have loyal and caring family and friends, and whoever has that will need nothing else.
If the only thing I ever accomplish in my whole life is saving another, then I will have regretted nothing I've ever done. I have had too many friends commit