This post was partially inspired by Anis Mojgani’s “You’ll see me tomorrow” post.
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, and it coincides with National Suicide Prevention Week. Both events have become more meaningful to me than ever before, but it’s not because it’s something I’ve personally dealt with.
I’ve never had suicidal tendencies and/or attempts, and I’ve never lost a loved one to suicide. But I know people who have. I know it starts with pain, and pain is something I’m very familiar with. It’s something we’re all familiar with, and I know that, if the pain becomes bad enough, it can turn into suicide.
I don’t want that. Not for me, and certainly not for anyone in this world.
Like I said, I’ve had my fair share of pain. I often feel too much and carry these heavy thoughts with me, and it can get overwhelming. It can bother me for days, and I’ll find a way to tolerate it. Or it can come out of nowhere and make me cry for what seems like no reason.
But I get through it.
That pain may not be anything that’s overly concerning, but it’s still pain, and pain—no matter how big or little the situation seems—shouldn’t be ignored. Pain shouldn’t be overlooked to the point where it’s buried and becomes unhealthy. It should be overcome by the potential of improvement, by this thing called “tomorrow.”
To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit organization that helps people find help and hope for mental health, depression, suicide, and other things of that nature, and their campaign for today, for this week is “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Those words come from something TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski wrote during last year’s NSPW/WSPD campaign:
[block quote]Above all else, we choose to stay. We choose to fight the darkness and the sadness, to fight the questions and the lies and the myth of all that’s missing. We choose to stay, because we are stories still going. Because there is still some time for things to turn around, time for surprises and for change. We stay because no one else can play our part.
Life is worth living.
We’ll see you tomorrow. [block quote]
Tomorrow allows for new opportunities to be found, gives improvement a chance to be a reality, and that’s why we should all be seen tomorrow. We all have an opportunity for things to get better. You have an opportunity for things to get better, and that’s why you’ll see me tomorrow.
You’ll see me tomorrow because God has blessed me with this life filled with hopes and dreams that are still unfulfilled, and those are worth more than all of the temporary pain and heaviness I feel.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there are so many wonderful unknowns that I have yet to make known to myself.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there’s still plenty of life to be experienced, because there’s still plenty of things to learn.
You’ll see me tomorrow because the work I’m doing now is still unfinished.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there are still stories I have left unwritten, that I have left incomplete.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have people I love that I need to see and be there for, because there are people in this world who need me—whether I believe that or not.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there are still people to meet, because there are strangers who are meant to become my friends.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have promises to keep, because I have ideas to I have yet to make a reality.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have stories that need to be told. stories that need to be written.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I’m still not the best writer that I can be, because my status as a writer is still that of an amateur.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I’m only a junior in college, because I still need to graduate.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there’s basketball that still needs to be seen, because I have yet to see the Chicago Bulls win the NBA Finals.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have yet to meet my favorite basketball player/person Kirk Hinrich, because I have yet to tell him I wouldn’t be the basketball fan I am today if not for him.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I want to see how Doug McDermott does this season, because I want to know how Fred Hoiberg is going to run the Bulls.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I never got a chance to watch Derrick Rose play basketball live and in person, because I’ve only been to Bulls and White Sox games (Rose didn’t play in any Bulls games I went to).
You’ll see me tomorrow because I still want to try on the Kobe 9 Elites and the new Hyperdunks, because I still have yet to go to the ARC to play basketball this school year.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have a stack of sports books in my room at home that I have yet to finish, because some of those books have yet to be read by me at all.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there are books that are still unwritten, because there will be more books to add to that stack.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have yet to go to my first concert, because there’s great music out there I have yet to be exposed to.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I need to listen to twenty one pilots’ albums for the billionth time, because Bastille’s second album hasn’t been released yet.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I haven’t successfully learned how to ollie, because I still haven’t tried longboarding.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I’m still waiting to try Shake Shack, because bacon cheeseburgers and cheese fries make me happy.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there are hundreds of Pinterest recipes I’ve pinned that need to be tried, because I have more desserts to bake and indulge in.
You’ll see me tomorrow because there’s a yearbook I’m supposed to help create, because I want to see the final product.
You’ll see me tomorrow because it’s been a little over three months since I last got to visit my favorite teacher, because I always look forward to talking Bulls, basketball, school, and life with him.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have other teachers to visit, because I want to know how my high school’s yearbook and newspaper is coming along.
You’ll see me tomorrow because Christmas is still coming, because I love to buy presents for other people.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I need to give my best friend her birthday present, because I want to know what her reaction to it will be.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have a birthday coming up, because I have a birthday to celebrate—even if it’s just by simply eating cake with my twin sister.
You’ll see me tomorrow because (nearly) 20 years of life isn’t enough for me, because my (near) 20 years of life hasn’t made a big enough impact on the world yet.
You’ll see me tomorrow because I have hope for myself, because I want to make sure others know there’s hope for themselves, too.
Help me support TWLOHA’s National Suicide Prevention Week campaign by making a donation to my fundraising page.
