LIFE SAVERS – NOT THE CANDY KIND
Saturday, October 10, 2020
This day begins much as yesterday ended for me – good health, in good spirits – which I credit to good luck more than good management. I am fortunate in so many ways …
I talked with a friend in recent days about the state of mind of the collective state of minds in this country; survey statistics suggest a much higher than the usual number of people in mental/emotional distress, and suicide concerns are real. The purpose of our discussion was that my friend is concerned about me. That’s heartening that someone cares and cares enough to ask the awkward questions. As we all should for those we know who are having a difficult time. And to be sure, many of our friends and colleagues may be out there right now, on edge, on the ledge …
So what can anyone do?
Doing nothing is easy; doing something that might help is awkward, stressful, emotional, confusing – but it could the life-saving intervention or gesture that someone needs.
I have some experience at this. By no means am any kind of expert. I’ve written about this issue, and spoken about it many times – and have often advocated for people to reach those who might need help because it is unlikely they’ll be holding their hand up asking for help.
I’ll include THIS LINK to a video of a speech I did on this subject a few years ago. I’m including it, not just to see a younger version of myself, but to refresh my own remembrance of it.
My friends referenced in that speech, Gary and Mike, are both gone.
Gary died of pancreatic cancer six years ago, and Mike passed away earlier this year from complications arising from treatment of an infection.
Neither took their own life, and neither did I – so collectively, we kept the suicide statistics down by three!
If you know someone who might need help, silence is not what they need. They might need a hug, might need some open-handed open-ended questions, to be shown how much they matter because the person slipping across the proverbial dotted-line into suicide territory is convincing themselves the world and everyone they know will be better off without them. They are wrong, and they need someone’s words and actions to support them. The life-saver could be you, and the life saved is undoubtedly worth it for them, and doubly worth it because of your help.
Reader feedback:
Vis-à-vis your reference this morning to egg-timer: She was standing in the kitchen, preparing our usual soft-boiled eggs and toast for breakfast, wearing only the T-shirt that she normally slept in. As I walked in, almost awake, she turned to me and said softly, “You've got to make love to me this very moment. My eyes lit up and I thought, "I am either still dreaming or this is going to be my lucky day!" Not wanting to lose the moment, I embraced her and then gave it my all; right there on the kitchen table. Afterwards, she said, ‘Thanks’, and re-turned to the stove. Happy, but a little puzzled, I asked, “What was that all about?" She explained, “The egg timer's broken.", DP, Calgary, AB
Hi Mark: If you haven’t yet seen Richard Attenborough’s A Life on our Planet (Netflix) .. then please run, run, to a friends to view it if you don’t have Netflix. Saw it last night and it was very sobering about what has actually happened to our Planet, BR, Calgary, AB
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