988, know this number.

In case you haven't heard, there is a new number to call for the Suicide Helpline; 988.  Make a note of it.  Even if you don't need it, someone you know might.

Every 11 minutes, someone loses their battle with their demons and ends their life.  This selfish act leaves a walk of heartache and tragedy for others to clean up and come to terms with.  If you thought you were gonna get a sympathetic ear on this one, you are mistaken.    

This is a national pandemic that needs to be treated as such.  We are losing too many people that have lost hope and need help.  We cannot wait on this and need to devote resources to this.  It's not just our youth but people of all ages.  

I was 47 when I tried to kill myself.  Men kill themselves almost 4x more often than women.  Over 48,000 killed themselves in 2021.  This shit is serious.  

The Buddha once said, life is suffering.  So right about now, someone is saying hell yeah.  Suffering means we are experiencing difficulty.  It means life is hard.  Well, depression is hard.  But you know what else is hard?  Self care.  

Yeah, thats right, I said it.  

You gotta make it a priority.  You gotta get uncomfortable.  Maybe that means calling a doctor or a therapist.  That isn't easy.  

We often hear suicide is selfish and I would agree with that.  But it's also hard.  Considering how to harm yourself is not easy.  Trust me, been there.  But so is picking up the phone and asking for help.  We gotta choose our suffering. 

Working out is hard.  Being fat is hard.  Which do you prefer?  

Ok, just to be clear, I am not at all minimizing this stuff.  But when we are at our lowest, the view is not pretty.  It is on you to change the view and that is hard.  So do one thing. Just one thing, dial 988.  

That, my friend, is self care.  You got this.