Choose Life: Saying No to Suicide-Part 2

Let's do one more list. These are things that strengthen you and build hope. Check the ones you have.

List 3

____ Accurate information about right and wrong. The messages you listen to from outside yourself give you good information. You knowYou know for sure that suicide is wrong.

____ A reliable person with whom you can share your secrets and be sure that nobody else will hear about them.

____ A person who depends upon you and trusts you for something.

____ A goal: something you are working on that is very important to you and the group you belong to, that you want to finish.

____ A person who loves you unconditionally and will accept you no matter what.

____ A group (team, church, club, etc.) to which you belong and in which you have an important part.

____ Spiritual roots which give you satisfactory answers to your questions about God and yourself.

____ Parents who show that they love each other and love you.

____ Activities that you are good at, that are important to your family and community.

OUT OF BALANCE? NOW WHAT?

Did you check as many items on List 3 as you did on List 1? Maybe you checked more. If you did, you may have good balance in your life.

If you checked a lot more items on List 1, does that mean you are suicidal? Not necessarily. It may just mean that you are out of balance.

Maybe you know the feeling. You're leaning over the edge of the boat to get something out of the water. Suddenly a little puff of wind comes along, and over you go. When you are out of balance, it doesn't take much to push you "over the line."

In one community many young people were under stress. Then one day one of them committed suicide. Within a week others had attempted suicide and several had succeeded. The extra stress was more than they could handle in their unbalanced condition.

The teen years are a time of stress. Your body changes so fast that you don't always know what you'll see when you wake up the next morning.

Your mind, will and emotions are changing, too.

That's why you have a special need for security and support systems when you are a teen. You need people around you who will catch you if you get seriously out of balance.

Look at List 3 again. Count the items that involve other people.

Write the number here. ______

Did you write the number seven? Good! In fact, you could say that all nine items on the list need people. If you have enough good people around you, you probably won't commit suicide.

Dr. Don Bartlette was a Native boy who grew up in a poor, alcoholic family. Because he had a cleft palate and couldn't speak, he was abused by his family and neighbours. He was filled with rage and hatred for everybody around him. More than once he tried to kill himself or his father. Then one day a kind lady in town saw him and invited him to her house. She gave him a good meal and some new clothes. She gave him work that he could do and paid him for it. She began teaching him to speak. It took a long time, but finally her love broke down the walls around his heart. He began to love the same God she loved. He forgave his parents and learned to love them. He went to school and began to learn ways to help his people. Today he is a well- loved speaker who has inspired many of his people to walk the path of love. One lady made the difference in helping him to choose life.

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