September is National Suicide Prevention Month. 🩵 November 22 2021 is a date I will never forget. It was a day when I reached a place in my life where the pain felt bigger than my ability to carry it. I tried to take my own life. I don’t share that for sympathy. I share it because I survived.There was a version of me that genuinely believed things would never get better. I couldn’t see past the hurt, the exhaustion, the disappointment, or whatever tomorrow was supposed to bring. In that moment, I didn’t think about all the things I would eventually experience, all the people I would meet, all the memories I would make, or all the reasons I would eventually have to keep going. But I’m still here. And looking back now, I wish I could go back and hug that version of myself. I wish I could tell her, “Please hold on. You have no idea how much life is still waiting for you. Healing didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t suddenly waking up one morning and everything being perfect. There were still hard days. There were still moments where I had to choose myself again and again. But little by little, life became something I wanted to be here for. So if you’re reading this and you’re struggling silently, please know this: you do not have to have your whole life figured out tonight. You only have to make it through this moment. Then the next one. Then the next. Please check on your people. Not just the ones who openly say they’re struggling, but the ones who seem like they have everything together. The ones who are always making everybody laugh. The ones who disappear for a while. The ones who say “I’m fine” a little too quickly. Ask them again. And if you are the person who needs someone to ask again please let somebody in. You are not a burden. Your pain is not an inconvenience. Asking for help does not make you weak. I will always carry November 22 2021 with me, but it doesn’t define the rest of my story.I survived a day I never thought I would survive. And now I get to live all the days that came after it. There is still a version of your life you haven’t met yet. And that version of you deserves the chance to exist. 🩵 - @iiammjenna1