I want to tell you all a story. This is a true story, and the most important story in and of my life.
At the lowest point in my life, I made a friend that introduced me to a beautiful world. It's not that the world was not beautiful before they stepped into my life; it is just that I had never took the time to notice the real beauty of it all.
As I sat with a group of people, similarly in the depths of their sadness, I saw a hummingbird. Unafraid of us, the hummingbird hovered next to this broken bunch. Seemingly, none us had seen true beauty in ourselves or otherwise, but this creature was beauty as we knew it. Colorful and elegant. Obviously beautiful.
At some point, as the hummingbird hovered around a head the color of a bright red flower, something dark caught my attention. It was not a sinister thing, but something I had always looked at as lower than myself. A fly....
Now, I know that as you read this, you will wonder why my attention was diverted to something we consider ugly and disgusting, but at that time I felt ugly and disgusting. Even as I watched it crawl across the arm of my chair, I still thought I was better than this creature. I moved my arm in an attempt to scare it away, but it stood firm and seemed to pay me no mind. I moved my arm towards it again. Still no reaction.
I looked closely at the creature and I noticed something that really just tugged at my soul and filled me with guilt. This fly had only one wing. It was no longer a fly. It had become something less than a fly, but it did not stop and give up. I tried to show everyone I was sitting with, but as soon as they saw it was just a fly, they turned back to the beautiful hummingbird. Sure, it was just a fly, but this fly did not give up its fight for survival. This fly had its namesake ripped from it and just kept going.
It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life, because it made me look around at a group of people (including myself) who were sad and giving up.
We still had our wings. Nothing had been physically ripped from us, essentially transforming us into something less than we had always been. The fly crawled down the arm and leg of my chair into a crack, then disappeared forever.
That fly told me not to give up. It told me to be thankful for everything I have. I had never had something put my perception of myself into perspective like that. While it did not actually tell me anything, it told me everything I needed to keep going.

I wish I could have conveyed this message to the people I have known that have given up or those that are no longer with us, but I am telling this story to you all right now in hopes that it helps someone. You don't have to try to be beautiful or be mad because you do not see the beauty in yourself. You have the right to be here.

Please do not give up.

"Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be. But a great artist-a master-can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is...and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be."

- Robert A. Heinlein

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy."

- Max Ehrmann, Desiderata