Eight years ago, a man shot himself in the head. His family, his friends, and his doctor all warned him not to do it, but he refused to listen. “Nobody tells me what to do,” he muttered, putting the pistol to his head and pulling the trigger.

Remarkably, he survived. The pain was intense, and the cost was immense, but over the course of that eight years the man slowly recovered and regained his health. Against all odds, he had not died.

Then, he picked up the same pistol again, and put it to his temple. Again, his friends and his family urged him not to pull the trigger. The doctors reminded him of his long recovery, the pain he had suffered, and how lucky he had been to survive. As one, they begged him not to make the same mistake again, for the second time might well be fatal.

“Nobody tells me what to do,” the man muttered.