Suicide Prevention
September 10th is National Suicide Prevention Day. I hope as Fall marches quickly into our busy lives, we will pause sometime this month and think about those whom we know who were so depressed that they took their own lives. Please reach out to the loved ones of these individuals on these sad anniversaries because it is always nice to know that others care and remember our loss. “Strength comes in numbers” is an old saying, but it still applies today in both joy and pain.
If you are currently depressed right now, please hold on to the hope that things will get better. As you read this September Post, I believe you will find a glimmer of hope as you understand other people’s challenges and how they survived.
If you have loved ones who are depressed, please keep being a friend to them and try to lead them back into the light. Severely depressed people need professional help. While you can’t do everything, you can do something. Ponder and pray about what you might do to make a difference.
Part I
Music Video — “Choose to Stay” by Anna Peterson
I recently received this text from my daughter-in-law, Alex Fales, who is married to our son, Matt. She is the creator of the “Mindful with Media” podcast. She shared this video of one of her good friends, Anna Peterson, who struggles with mental health challenges. The video is a live presentation of Anna singing her song, “Choose to Stay” in a park.
CHOOSE TO STAY
Verse 1
Sometimes it feels like a disease
Body and mind so crippling
And I just can’t seem to fight
Out in the open I seem fine
But close the doors and it all unwinds
And it just doesn’t seem right
Chorus
I didn’t choose this war
I didn’t choose these fighting grounds
And at times I’m sure
There’s no way that I’ll make it out
When it all feels lost
When I feel like giving up
I know that I can’t run
Cause in the end it’s worth the cost
I will choose to, I will choose to stay
And fight this battle today
Verse 2
If I could paint this picture I would
I feel so misunderstood
When I bring it into light
Bridge
I know now more than ever
There is hope and there is faith
Give it time and things get better
If you choose to stay
This is the link to Alex’s website: mindfulwithmedia.com. I include this link because research shows the direct negative influence social media has on mental health. This NBC article is directed towards teens, but the same message applies to adults also.
This is the link to a 50-minute podcast interview Alex did with Anna about her mental health journey: Episode 12—You’re Not Alone in Your Mental Health Struggles//with Anna.
Part II
Mental Health Counselor — Carol Bell, mother of country music star, Luke Bell, who died a year ago on August 26, 2022.
I met Carol Bell in Cody, Wyoming in June 2023 at the annual “Beck Lake Challenge: A Walk for Mental Health Awareness” when she spoke about mental health as a trained counselor. One thing she said has stayed with me:
Everyone will experience some kind of mental illness in their lifetime.
I suddenly realized what a true statement that was. We need to look at people who suffer from mental illness with the same compassion as those who suffer from physical illness. Carol spoke about her son, Luke, who struggled for years and eventually died because of mental illness. While she did everything she could as a mother, Luke’s bipolar disorder claimed him in the end.
I want to encourage everyone who is struggling with any type of mental illness to get professional help now. Find a counsellor you can trust and who understands you and your specific problem. I like what I read about Carol’s approach to counselling in Psychology Today:
Sometimes when we are faced with difficult challenges or changes, we get stuck. I believe we get unstuck by connecting with our authentic selves. As your counselor, I’ll hold the lantern while you find the path home to yourself. I bring life experience and curiosity to my practice, and I like to partner with clients as they seek meaning, purpose, and a way around the obstacles that sometimes block their paths. I’m also interested in memory and story and collaborating with clients to create stories that help them move forward with hope.
My clients see me as supportive, curious, straight-forward, caring, and respectful. They also sense my faith in their ability to know their own path once they gain self-awareness and access to their intuition.
I enjoy collaborating with clients ages fourteen and older, and I feel particularly experienced in supporting clients through grief and loss, healing from trauma, life transitions, struggles with anxiety, and finding ways to care for self while loving friends or family members with addiction or mental illness.
On a personal level, Carol and I became immediate friends as we hugged, shed tears together, and talked about her son Luke, who died at age 32, and my son Jonathan who died at age 35. We understood each other’s pain and sorrow. We also understood the need to reach out and help other people who are suffering in a similar way.
Part III
Book — LifeLines: An Inspirational Journey from Profound Darkness to Radiant Light, by Melissa Bernstein.
I listened to LifeLines: An Inspirational Journey from Profound Darkness to Radiant Light on Audible, and it was amazing! I now want to buy the book so I can see her photography and read more of her sweet, simple verses that teach profound truths, which she calls her “lifelines.” She said that she began writing these verses as a child, and these rhymes are what kept her going all these years as she secretly fought battles of anxiety and depression throughout her life. Anyone who has suffered with these maladies, as I have from time to time, will be able to relate to her hidden personal pain and despair to her eventual personal honesty and joy that her book describes.
AMAZON WRITE-UP:
Join Melissa Bernstein, Co-Founder of the wildly successful toy company Melissa & Doug, on a journey to triumph over anxiety, depression, and despair―a story she hopes will help others find their path to meaning and inner peace. Now, more than ever, Melissa's message is needed by others, and her promise to all who journey with her is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Who would ever guess that Melissa Bernstein, happily-married mother of 6, creator of over 5,000 toys which have sold over a billion dollars, begins many days the same way far too many others do, wondering if she'll make it to tomorrow? Melissa shows us that when darkness descends, and it seems there's no escape, there actually is a way out, there actually is hope, and there actually is a path that can lead to meaning and purpose.
Melissa takes us on her path through depression, revealing how her "lifelines" transformed despair into a beacon of hope. Filled with prose, gorgeous photography, and many of Melissa's verses that express her struggles and breakthroughs, LifeLines is committed to helping others who are "stuck" develop a plan for themselves to survive and thrive.
A book of struggle and salvation, connection and community, LifeLines is a framework for people seeking to understand their emotional lives and to develop their own path to self-discovery and inner transformation.
WAHINGTON POST ARTICLE:
She brought kids joy with her ‘magical’ toys. And hid her own misery until it became unbearable. Written by Ellen McCarthy.
Part IV
My Song — “There’s a Reason to Live” and Suicide Prevention Website
Below are the lyrics to a song I wrote with my son, Ben, which is called, “There’s a Reason to Live.” The story behind writing this song can be found on my website reasontolivesp.org. You can watch a lyric video for this song on YouTube. You can also listen to the song on Spotify and other music channels.
THERE’S A REASON TO LIVE
Verse 1
On the other side the Savior stands,
But can you feel His outstretched hands?
He walks with you every single day;
His love for you never goes away.
Chorus
There’s a reason to live!
There’s a reason to live!
There’s a reason to smile;
You’ve been loved all the while.
There’s a reason to live!
There’s a reason to live.
Verse 2
Sometimes you feel so all alone.
Your pain is deep, and no one knows.
Your cries for help are kept inside,
But pray for Jesus to be your guide.
Chorus
Bridge
You are much more than you know.
If you could look inside your soul…
(Your soul…)
One day you will know.
Verse 3
Hold on to hope for one more day.
With faith in Christ, you’ll find your way.
Courage and power will come to you
To help you make your dreams come true.
Final Chorus
There’s a reason to live!
(With faith in Christ who saves us all)
There’s a reason to live!
(Our dear Savior, He hears your call)
There’s a reason to smile;
You’ve been loved all the while.
There’s a reason to live!
(There’s a reason to live.)
There’s a reason to live.
There’s a reason to live.
Jesus wants you to live.
Please choose to live.
There’s a reason to live.
Words and music by:
Kristine Litster Fales and Ben Fales
I hope you will share my song and website with those who need this inspiration right now. I believe as we unite our efforts, we can help save lives by showing consistent kindness, pure love, and great sensitivity to everyone around us. Sometimes we can tell when someone is struggling mentally or emotionally, but many times we cannot.
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
— John 13:34-35