In starting this excerpt, I had a million reasons why I wanted to avoid this topic. However I was prompted by the recent news of the death of (the well known actress) Regina King's son earlier this week. He died at the young age of 26, I know this must be a hard time for their family. For anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide, my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Do you ever wonder what was so bad to force an individual to end their own life? What situation was soo impossible that could not be fixed? I recall an instance in my early twenties of a young lady in her teens, who upon finding out that her boyfriend was cheating on her with her bestfriend, decided to end her life. I didn't know her personally, but I remembered how devasted I was because I thought about all the heartbreaks that were such a distant memory in my life. I wish I was there to tell her that the pain of betrayal and hurt wouldn't last always. I wanted to tell her that she had a choice to forgive him if he was really sorry or with time she would meet a man who valued her worth. But it was too late....... she never made it and so many others chose a permanent solution to a temporary situation.
Sometimes resilience is not a lesson easily learnt and too often vulnerable persons do not learn the coping mechanisms that it takes to get through hard times. I wondered what it would have taken for Regina King's son to choose life and not death. Sometimes we are left with the unknown, the unanswered questions and just the emptiness of not being able to help those we care about.
This month I wanted to spread mental health awareness by reminding us: "If you're not coping, reach out to someone and if you are coping reach out to someone who isn't." No break up is worth a life, no financial difficulty should end someones future and no mistakes are unfixable. Whilst you're in search of your purpose, in pursuit of happiness or on your journey trying to figure out the next step, remember: HARD TIMES DO NOT LAST ALWAYS. (Say that again). Please remind yourself and your loves ones, suicide is not the solution, choose life and all the opportunities it has to offer.
Please see below links if you need a helping hand:
https://www.kooth.com/
https://www.mind.org.uk/
https://www.samaritans.org/