Suicide is not the Answer

Today, my brain ponders about life and the many circumstances that have the ability in making us feel a certain way and do certain things to ourselves. Sometimes our immediate answers are not always the right answers, especially when we have only thought of ourselves in the situation. When thinking about current and previous problems, when have you not thought about others when making decisions?

Let’s take a look at the death of Don Cornelius. His permanent action to a temporary situation may not have been the best solution, but it was his solution. Now, let’s imagine that Mr. Cornelius is in his mid-thirties with three children and a wife. The wife is also in her mid-thirties and works as a Case Manager for a Mental Health Institution. She makes approximately $33,000 a year, which is before taxes. The children are two, four, and five years of age. Mr. Cornelius decides to take his own life because he cannot deal with the situations surrounding his family life, job, and social life. What do you think happens to his wife and kids after this tragic event? The responsibility of the family and everything else shifts from two parents to one parent. The wife and possibly his family have to make adjustments to their current lifestyle to support the needs of the children. Now, there are situations where the wife will not receive support from his or her family and will have to provide for the children by herself. What a stressful situation to be in when love did not prevail and get the couple through thick and thin? How will the wife cope with the stress that was often shared with her husband; however now has to be dealt with on an individual level?

A good friend recently told me that, “suicide is a permanent answer to a temporary situation.” You know what? I agree with her. Suicide is not the answer. The answer is finding various resources in the community to assist you with whatever you are going through. Those resources could consist of mental health organizations, therapists, family, friends, running, walking, and just leaving your situation for a temporary moment in time. In the past, my state of mind had the ability in making me believe that suicide was the answer; however I did not give in to those thoughts. I pushed through those feelings and allowed myself to deal with the situation in front of me. I told myself, “I do not want to ever experience this feeling again or think this way.” I also told myself that I had the power to let my mind to react to certain things that I was going through. In this place called life, you have to learn to control your mind and only react to the things you feel that are necessary for a reaction. I also found exercising and walking in the park to be relaxing. I would walk for an hour, looking up at the sky, while relieving my pain with every breath I took. This very day, I still walk in the park and relieve my stress; however, I use it as bonding time with my sisters and nieces by taking them with me.

~Life is tough; however you are well on your way to being a life expert. Become an expert and then empower others to do the same.