Never, during any of my darkest days (and there have been a few), have I felt that there was no hope left in sight.  Maintaining this sentiment is such an important part of life to me, that I had the word etched permanently into my skin.  A daily visible reminder, that I must never lose sight of it.  John Lennon wrote, “All You Need is Love”, but I disagree.  You can feel all the love in the world, from your family and friends, and still feel terribly alone, lonely or hopeless.

My belief is: when you lose hope, you lose everything.

Maybe this is the place, when the lost apparently see no point in carrying on.  And for those of us who have never experienced those depths of despair, it is always almost unbelievable when we hear that someone has made a fatal choice between this life, and no life.

The daughter of a friend, took her own life yesterday.  She was nineteen.  It is incomprehensible that anyone, let alone someone so young, cannot see beyond the pain that they were feeling, can see no other option.   Is this not the age when we feel invincible, that the future is bright, that the whole world is ours for the taking?  How can any one person not feel even the tiniest bit of optimism, have not one ounce of hope left, surrounded as they were by those who loved them unequivocally; it’s impossible to digest.

I cannot even begin to know how her family are feeling.  No parent should ever have to bury their child.

How do you even begin to try to overcome that sorrow?  I don’t know that you ever can……..