When We Fall

This is more of a metaphoric fall, not the literal kind like falling with a baby bump. I would title this “I am fine everyone, don’t worry” if that were to happen. This is more of the falling when we think we have failed. We are all adults, the ladies in my “mommy twitterstream” wear the big girl pants because most if not all of us have gone through a heartbreak, have been disappointed, have experienced loss. It would be great if these bad experiences were in the past but we know this is not true, this is real life. Some of us are experiencing these heavy-topics in our real lives now, all of us are touched by the randomness of life that crosses our social media lives.

In my experience the way we deal with adversity depends on the relationship we have with ourselves. This means how we honestly use our lens on who we are and how we see the world. For all the interactions we have in the world no interaction is more important than the one with ourselves. Secondly we need to value our connections with others because humans were not designed to be isolated creatures. As someone who loves self-proclaiming I am an introvert I know my life is enriched with what I provide for my friends and how they provide for me. With that said, in all endeavors you embark on try to add positive value.

I am writing this post for several RANDOM reasons:

• January 24th is coming up and that apparently is the most depressing day of the year due to weather and post-holiday let down.
• Next is that in my two months of playing in the “mommy” social media realm I have seen many contests and campaigns with all kinds of people entering thus I know MANY people are not selected. Recently it was with a heavy heart that I saw 15 women I care for deal with not being selected for the next round of the Mamavation campaign. Even though I know they were disappointed, I know they will be fine.
• Finally and the most severe is that this week a shockwave was sent through my online community when a blogger I never met or heard of took her own life. From what I have learned she was a gracious, supportive, intelligent person. No one knew she had fallen so hard she would do this to herself. Now her family and loved ones are left in the aftermath.

Here is my list for When We Fall:

1. Do what you need to so that you are right with yourself to avoid long falls. Do it via your faith, spirituality, or however you deal with reality. Get your head on straight.
2. When it is bad rely on others and whatever it is that gives you a backbone. When you see others fall be there for them and/or direct them to appropriate resources.
3. If it is really bad, seek help. There is no shame in the therapy game (also great when life is not really bad too). Following the recent blogger’s death by suicide I saw many people on twitter write, “DM me if you need to talk” to strangers and I think that is noble. However as someone who has had the great misfortune of dealing with suicidal friends and acquaintances I gotta be a bitch and say please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Most recently I felt a need to track someone down who lives near me that I have only ever known via twitter on Christmas morning because they were tweeting suicidal thoughts all Christmas Eve then went silent. Their friends were very worried and I felt much compassion for people wondering what happened to this person. Do you think that stress was any fun that morning? I don’t want your stress in my day. I have been affected by suicide personally and even tried when I was a teen. Please deal with your shit and I will be here if you need me, but would prefer not to. I can be here for you but honestly I am not trained to handle severe depression.

As always people, peace and namaste. I hope this day finds you well, but just in case please take heed with what I just wrote.