War and Peace

Yes, this is from the final battle of Lord of the Rings. Because there's very few times when a Lord of the Rings reference is not applicable.

Many people see war and peace as opposites. They will say war is strife and chaos; peace is the tranquil absence of war. This is not quite correct, as the losing side of any war will say. Peace is not the absence of war; it is what follows a hard-won victory. It is that rest which is given a weary soldier, the sleep granted to the saints who battled for righteousness, the serenity bestowed upon the one who has fought the darkness and won. Peace only follows a battle, and it is never easily achieved. It does not come from standing in the ocean and allowing the waves to batter you as they choose. It does not come from collapsing and allowing the darkness to engulf you. It does not come from standing in the lions’ den and allowing them to consume you. Why? Because peace only comes in the light. Darkness is chaos, and refusing to struggle against it allows the only flicker of hope you ever had for peace to be extinguished.

No matter how hard it gets, you have to keep fighting, or your journey through the darkness will never lead to the light. In any epic saga of travel and adventure, the hero encounters many obstacles along the way. Some of them are physically present, monsters he must slay, villains he must outwit. Some of them are mental and emotional, mindsets he must change, thought processes he must overcome. If at any point he stops and allows these to overcome him, the story is over. He never reaches his mountain, castle, or ocean. He never destroys the ring. He never secures victory over darkness as a whole because he didn’t fight it while it was in pieces. He is then not a hero, just a character who gave up. Peace will never come from giving up and giving in. Peace only comes after fighting until you succeed. That doesn’t mean fighting, losing a battle, and shrugging your shoulders because at least you tried. If you truly want peace, you have to fight for it, taking hold and refusing to let go until you emerge into the light of day.

But it’s an illness, some strugglers argue, as if it absolves them to call it a sickness. They’re right, to some extent. Depression is a mental illness. Anxiety is a mental illness. PTSD is a mental illness, and illnesses don’t go away with a few happy thoughts and a little pixie dust any more than cancer or appendicitis can be cured with a Band-Aid or cough drop.

But no one tells the cancer patient, the Lyme’s sufferer, the person with appendicitis or thyroid disorder or anything else to just give in, be the victim, let it take over. No, you fight with chemo and medicine and surgery and treatments that much of the time seem to make the pain worse, but leave you able to function as a human again. The same goes for mental illnesses: you can never give in and stop fighting, just allowing the waves of negativity and loathing and darkness to wash over you without resistance, hoping that you have enough control to stay alive until they pass. You have to fight with truth and love and the hard things you know will help you. It can be harder in some ways than chemo, because the body can sometimes endure more physical pain than the mind is willing to endure mental or emotional pain, but both can be suffered through and defeated if you don’t lose sight of their long-term gains.

Is it your fault that you’re depressed, anxious, have PTSD or ADD or anything else? No, no more than it’s your fault that you have cancer, Lyme’s, appendicitis, malfunctioning organs of any kind. Is it your fault if you do nothing, just let it take over and have that victory over you? Whether it’s refusing chemo or refusing to fight, the answer is yes. So regardless of which kinds of battles you’re facing now, keep fighting, until the darkness fades into dawn and the war at last is won. Don’t make it your fault.