This isn’t much of a sermon particularly, but to me this is very important...
I was browsing reddit today and hit the ‘random’ button to see where I would end up. Sure enough, I found a subreddit I’d not seen before. I was browsing for a little while when I realised that the things that were being posted were by many people who felt like they were at the end of the tether in their lives.
Lonely perhaps, stressed, scared, depressed, even suicidal… But in their posts I recognised certain feelings and frames of mind… I had been there… and you may have been too.
This page on the internet gave me a sudden and surprising feeling that the bottom of my stomach had dropped.
There were literally thousands of people there.. expressing their feelings together but still feeling terribly alone.. many individuals together but by themselves.
There’s a four frame cartoon that I’ve seen online a few times. In the first frame a man sits on the edge of the bed, his skin is charred black, he’s skeletal. In the second frame he reviews his wardrobe which is full of ‘person suits’ hanging on coat hangers. In the third frame he puts one on. The last frame is him in the ‘person suit’ strolling along as if he looks happy.
Sometimes people will shout at you ‘smile, it’s not all bad’ without knowing that inside you feel as though the world is collapsing beneath you. A simple smile can feel like an impossible feat.
What I’m trying to get at, is that in a world of billions of people it is still possible to feel like you are the only one, and the only one suffering.
There are two things that I want you to take away today:
The first is that if you are feeling depressed, lonely, asocial..suicidal… there really are people out there who will listen however much you think there aren't. If you can’t bring yourself to talk to a friend.. then there are many different places where you can talk to someone anonymously.
The second is that you may wonder what you can do in this world to help others… people can hide their tormenting loneliness, depression, or anxiety, incredibly well, so the truth is that making eye contact with someone and greeting them can make a difference to them. You can also listen.. pay attention to what they don’t say, as well as what they do. Give them your attention when they talk to you (and perhaps even when they don’t). I say they, but really I mean everyone, because you don’t know who is suffering.
When I’ve felt the way I’ve described above, I’ve felt eternally grateful to the few people who sent me messages just saying ‘hello, how are you, not heard from you for a while…’, even if I never replied.
The last thing I’d like to say is, that you don’t have to worry about getting through tomorrow… just get yourself through today… we’ll be there for you when you do.
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Please, don’t suffer in silence….these can’t replace proper medical advice or help, but they can be a good place to start:
http://www.samaritans.org/ (UK calls only, but there is an email address for support)
http://www.7cups.com/ (International)
http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home (USA based but online support groups)
http://www.befrienders.org/ (International)
http://www.ifred.org/individual-support/suicide-hotlines (USA based, but online support)
http://togetherweare-strong.tumblr.com/helpline (Helplines listed for many countries around the world)
http://www.postpartum.net/ (International postpartum support)
As a final note… 7Cups.com, the second link above, takes volunteers to act as listeners. You don’t need experience, just your time and a willingness to listen. Anyone can do it, even you. Thank you
