02/09/2026
September is Su***de Prevention & Awareness Month.
I shared this video last year.
And I’m sharing it again.
Not because I ran out of things to post. Not because Facebook reminded me it existed. And certainly not because su***de is something we should talk about for one month out of the year.
I’m sharing it again because somewhere, someone watching this might need it more today than they did a year ago.
Someone reading this might be exhausted.
Not “I need a nap” exhausted.
The kind of exhausted that comes from fighting a battle inside your own head every single day while still going to work, raising your kids, paying the bills, answering texts, laughing at jokes, showing up for everyone else, and pretending everything is fine.
The kind of exhausted nobody sees.
And maybe you've gotten really, really good at hiding it.
Maybe the people around you have absolutely no idea how heavy things have become.
Maybe you've convinced yourself that you're a burden.
That everyone would eventually move on.
That your family would be better without the stress.
That your friends wouldn't really notice.
That you've screwed up too many times.
That you're too far gone.
That whatever you're dealing with right now is simply too big to overcome.
Please hear me:
Your mind can lie to you when you're hurting.
Your absence would not make life easier for the people who love you.
It would leave a hole.
An empty chair at Christmas.
A phone number someone can't bring themselves to delete.
Photographs that suddenly become priceless.
A song nobody can listen to anymore without crying.
Birthdays that feel different forever.
Questions that will never have answers.
People wondering for the rest of their lives if there was something they could have said…something they could have done…some way they could have convinced you to stay.
You matter far more than you realize.
And your value isn't determined by how productive you were today.
It isn't determined by the money in your bank account.
It isn't determined by your mistakes.
Your failed relationships.
Your job.
Your past.
Your trauma.
Your addiction.
Your diagnosis.
The things you regret.
Or the things you haven't figured out yet.
You don't have to have your entire life together to deserve another tomorrow.
Sometimes surviving today is enough.
Sometimes the victory is getting out of bed.
Sometimes it's answering the phone.
Sometimes it's finally saying the words:
“I'm not okay.”
There is no shame in those words.
If anything, they may be some of the bravest words a human being can say.
And to the rest of us…
Pay attention to your people.
The strong friend.
The funny friend.
The dad who always handles everything.
The mom who never stops taking care of everyone else.
The veteran who says he's fine.
The teenager who suddenly got quiet.
The coworker who hasn't seemed like themselves lately.
The person who keeps making everyone laugh.
Sometimes the people carrying the heaviest things are the ones who have become absolute professionals at making sure nobody notices.
Ask twice.
Stay a little longer.
Listen without immediately trying to fix everything.
Send the text.
Make the call.
Sit beside them.
Tell people you love them while they're still here to hear it.
And if you are the person struggling right now…
Stay.
Stay for tomorrow morning.
Stay for the trip you haven't taken yet.
Stay for the photograph you haven't captured.
Stay for the dog that waits for you to come through the door.
Stay for the person you haven't met yet.
Stay for the places you haven't seen.
Stay for the stupid jokes that will make you laugh until your stomach hurts.
Stay for sunsets.
Stay for music.
Stay for your children.
Stay for your friends.
Stay for the version of yourself five years from now who will look back at this chapter and be incredibly thankful you kept going.
You don't have to promise forever tonight.
Just don't let your worst moment make a permanent decision for the rest of your story.
There are chapters of your life you haven't even reached yet.
People you haven't met.
Memories you haven't made.
Places your feet haven't stood.
Photographs that don't exist yet.
Laughter you haven't heard.
Hugs you haven't felt.
And ordinary Tuesday afternoons that someday you'll realize were worth fighting to see.
That's why I'm reposting this video.
I'll probably repost it next year too.
And the year after that.
Because I don't care if ten thousand people scroll past it.
If one person stops.
If one person hears what they needed to hear.
If one person sends a message.
If one person makes a phone call.
If one person decides, “Okay…I'll stay.”
Then it was worth posting again.
You are important.
You are loved.
You are needed.
And even if you can't see it from where you're standing right now, your life is still worth living.
Please stay.
And please help somebody else stay, too.
***dePreventionMonth ***deAwareness
