Happy Thursday, everyone! I’ve had a very busy month since my blog post ‘Suicidal Thoughts: It’s Okay Not to be Okay‘ came out. I’ve had a lot of people reaching out to me across different platforms to share their stories and ask for advice, and I truly feel honored and blessed to have the opportunity to just be a listening ear.
Because suicide is such an important topic that doesn’t get enough discussion, I would like to use this post as an opportunity to share a few messages that I’ve received over the past month. For privacy purposes, their names, profile pictures, and other personal information have been blurred out. While reading these messages, you may feel overwhelmed with a lot of emotions at once, but the one emotion that I hope you feel the most is frustration. I’ll explain why a bit later. Let’s get started!
The following two messages are from mothers who lost their child to suicide. The pain that they must have felt then and continue to endure now is just unimaginable.
I’ve also received messages from people who have even attempted suicide — one person has tried on multiple occasions to end her life. Thank goodness they are still here to tell their stories and inspire others to keep pushing through!
And lastly, I’ve received messages from people who felt comfortable enough to be open about their feelings, thus, allowing us to have a very meaningful (and hopefully, helpful) conversation.
Now that you’re done reading, you may be thinking back to what I said earlier about feeling frustrated. “Frustrated? Why would I feel frustrated after reading such heartfelt messages?” Well, I hope you feel frustrated at how much kindness this world is lacking, especially after the presidential election that just ended. I’ve seen people on BOTH sides display such cruelty to others, and it makes me so frustrated that we can’t just be kind. Something so simple seems so rare these days.
Not all suicide attempts, whether unsuccessful or successful, are a result of being bullied, but I know that a lot of people who do contemplate suicide do so because of the cruelness of others. I hope that these messages have inspired you all to be kinder to one another. I hope that they lit a fire under you to extend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry on to those who may need it. You never know what someone is going through on the inside, no matter how much you think you do. Differences in politics, race, age, gender, or sexual orientation do not matter. What matters is that we are ALL human beings, and we ALL deserve to be treated with respect. Don’t be the reason that someone feels like there is no place for them on this Earth — we can make enough space for everyone.
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
– Lao Tzu
My heart hurts by reading this and I am feeling thankful to you for reaching out to these people. I suffer from depression too and I am not afraid to write about it here. You ae doing good thing. God bless you. 🙂
Wow, Shristi. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your story with me. I hope you continue to push through your struggles with depression and know that you are going to get through it.
I can’t imagine how hard it must be for a parent to lose a grown child to suicide. Thanks for sharing Jasmine.
Thanks for reading!