And I’m sorry to be heavy on a Friday night. Maybe not a LinkedIn-appropriate post. And maybe I’m disclosing too much but I don’t care.
A man I know just ended his life.
We weren’t close. Never met in person. But we wrote chapters in the same book. His was called “Strength Through Surrender.”
I can’t stop thinking about that title.
I’ve been in the dark place. I know how your mind turns on you — stops protecting you and starts lying to you. Tells you people and the world are better without you.
That voice is a liar.
But I also know you can’t always hear that when you’re in it.
The only reason I’m here is because something — and someone — pulled me back. For me it was my daughter. She didn’t fix it. She just needed me here. On the days I couldn’t find a reason for myself, I borrowed hers.
This isn’t my crisis. It’s honesty. That’s what we should all be allowed to say out loud.
Here’s what’s killing people: not the darkness itself. The silence around it. Too many people carry it alone. And some of them don’t make it.
So here’s what I’m asking — not a like, not a share for the algorithm:
Say something true today:
“Last year broke me in ways I haven’t admitted.”
“I’ve been there too.”
“I almost didn’t make it and nobody knew.”
Every time one of us says the quiet part out loud, we lower the floor for someone else. We make it fractionally more normal to be human. To struggle. To need people.
That’s not weakness. That’s the bravest thing you can do.
The system won’t fix this. The algorithm won’t fix this. We fix this. One honest post. One real conversation. One text to someone you’ve been meaning to check on.
My dearest friends have buried people they loved because of this. I almost became that story.
We cannot keep losing people to silence.
PLEASE share what you’re willing to share. For the person who thinks they’re the only one. For someone’s son or daughter. Someone’s parent. Someone’s person.
PLEASE do it because I may need to read it someday too.
#MentalHealth #YouAreNotAlone #StrengthThroughSurrender #SuicidePrevention #ChipChats