World Suicide Prevention Day: Suicide Support So, there you sit, in a seat so many before you have sat - a seat that feels more like a black hole, sucking you in with no escape. Thoughts flood into your head with a torrent of fear and uncertainty. Your thoughts make you panic; terrified you will lose control. But amongst everything, there's still hope… Suicide is one of those subjects we feel incredibly uncomfortable talking about. When you feel suicidal, it clouds your judgement, making you feel insecure about how the world would judge you. You may be worried about being labelled "crazy"; the truth is, a suicidal person is anything but. Feeling suicidal is not a sign of insanity - it just means, that for whatever reason, the individual is finding it hard to cope at present. Critical words in the sentence: "at present". The cause of suicidal emotions always comes to pass, and the suicidal feelings do too. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. With time and support, you WILL be able to get through this and the suicidal thoughts will stop. In this post, I intend to give hope, help and support to those who're feeling suicidal; in the following post entitled “World Suicide Prevention Day: Supporting A Suicidal Person”, I intend to give advice to the unsung heroes who support those who're suicidal. A lot of people who contemplate suicide always think to themselves "I wish I could just close my eyes and never wake up". You ever thought that? Why do you think that? Because it's painless. You've been through enough emotional pain as it is, and the last thing you want is to suffer physical pain as well. You may start looking for a painless suicide method. Let me get to the point: there is no such thing as painless suicide. Various methods of execution may not hurt - but whether you like to believe it or not, there are people out there who love you. There are people out there who love and care about you so much their world is gonna come crashing down when they learn the news that you decided to take your own #life. No matter how dark times seam, there is always someone who loves you who will support you, and give you a reason to live. Never forget that. Sometimes when we get a suicidal thought, we feel as though we're losing control of ourselves. There is however something vital worth highlighting here that many fail to see: there is a BIG difference between suicidal thoughts and suicidal plans. If you're having thoughts, then feel relieved and get hope from the fact that you don't get plans; if you've planned in the past, or you're planning at present, it still isn't the end. Your heart is still beating, and therefore there is still hope. Thoughts or plans do not have to become reality. The thing with suicide is, those who contemplate it don't actually want to die - they just want the way they're feeling to stop. The way you are feeling now will stop, and suicide is NOT the thing that will make it stop. Time is the critical thing that'll make these suicidal thoughts stop. In the meantime however, you may be wondering how you're meant to get through the time at present. Despite how uncomfortable and scary we may find it talking or speaking up about suicide, the importance of doing so is paramount. For however frightening it may be to first raise your voice and speak openly, the benefits in the long run are more than worth it. With someone to talk to, sooner or later your suicidal thoughts will become a distant bad memory; a place that you will never have to go back to. You could talk to a close family member, or a special friend. Sometimes we feel more comfortable talking to a friend than we do a family member. All you're after is someone to talk to; someone who'll listen when you feel you need to get something off your chest. The release of doing this is a profound feeling, and it helps an awful lot. It's important also for you to speak to this person everyday, face to face if possible; if not, then by phone or text. Ask them however to contact you to see how you are. Always contact them however strait away if you feel you need to. You could, if you felt you wanted to, seek more professional help. Just the thought of this may petrify you - more so than the fear of talking to someone you know. You may feel the requirement of such action be a little drastic, and you may not like to believe that it's needed. The way to think of it however is, it's a step in the right direction to helping you get through this difficult time. Even though a friend is the best initial support - and would also be a great support for if/when you reach out for more professional help - a counsellor or therapist may speed the recovery along faster, which is always a good thing. The important thing to understand and use to reassure yourself here is that no one will ever judge you; you are never alone in the way you're feeling. Sometimes when we have suicidal thoughts, we mistrust ourselves so much, that we almost speak of ourselves as if we are not the ones in control. It is important to say at this point that suicidal thoughts or plans are very different to the mindset of someone who is actually prepared to kill themselves. It's a very unique and idiosyncratic mindset that is very easily confused. The fact that you are reading this, the fact that you are willing and are trying to help yourself, shows you are NOT in the frame of mind of someone who would actually commit suicide. You still have hope, and you are holding onto it, which is a very good sign that you should find incredibly reassuring. Even if you don't plan, you still need to be wary of spontaneity. Sometimes when our thoughts get us down, we can act spontaneously. This would only happen however if various implement were at hand for a person to use to harm themselves or commit suicide. If you feel you need to, remove all item from your home that could be used to harm yourself. These are usually things like knives, guns (if you own one), scissors, or anything sharp. If you cannot remove these things yourself, then get someone else to do it for you. This is, once again, a step in the right direction. We can help ease thoughts by keeping an active and entertaining scheduled day. When a person has routine and structure in their #life, suicidal thoughts ease and eventually stop. Even if you don't feel like you have a so called "structure", you can create one by scheduling your day and filling it with activities that make you feel good. If you like a particular TV Show, schedule that you watch an episode at a particular time of day. If you have a hobby, ensure you make time for this during your day. It's also important to get out of the house for a least 30 minutes per day. A brisk walk will help you feel better, as will sunlight and being in the fresh air. As I come to the end of the first article I’m writing for WSPD, I hope people have found this helpful. Keep the words with you, and read them whenever you feel you need to. This may be the light at the end of an epic tunnel. It may help in darks times to keep a diary to release your feelings. If a diary seems daunting, then you could write a story; creative outlets are very good releases. Writing your feelings down always helps. If you feel the need to let a tear drop, do so. You are never alone, you are never unloved, and you are never unthought of. God bless every single one of you! Article by Angelo Uccello One more thing... If you are supporting a suicidal person, remember to check out the article that follows this entitled: “World Suicide Prevention Day: Supporting A Suicidal Person”. If it is not on at present when you’re reading this, I aim to get it up as soon as I possibly can.

The One Who Finds Them Before I start, I must warm people, this post is an incredibly distressing read. Not to beat about the bush, it's primary topic is suicide, and more prominently focused on suicide prevention. If you have ever felt suicidal in your #life, if you are feeling that way right this very moment as your eyes take in these words and give them to your soul, this is an important read for you. If however you've lost someone to suicide who was very close to you, this post could work either way. You may find it helpful; you may find it painful. Just so you know, if you read on, you may find what you read very upsetting. A lot of people who contemplate suicide always think to themselves "I wish I could just close me eyes and never wake up". You ever thought that? Be honest? Why do you think that? Because it's painless. You've been through enough emotional pain as it is, and the last thing you want is to suffer physical pain. So you might start looking for a painless suicide method. Let me cut to the chase: there is no such thing as painless suicide. Various methods of execution may not hurt - but whether you like to believe it or not, there are people out there who love you. There are people out there who love and care about you so much their world is gonna come crashing down when they learn the news that you decided to take your own #life. This is a story about a friend of mine who committed suicide last year. To keep their situation as private as possible, I'm going to call her Tracy. She had a twin sister - let's call her Louise. Her mother - let's call her Rachel. And her Farther - let's call him Bob. I'm not going to go into the circumstances behind why Tracy took her own #life. All you need to do is hear the story and it might just save you. Tracy came home from college on the 30th of March 2012 and hung herself. Her sister Louise was the one to find her. Just think about that for a moment. When you decided to take you own #life, someone will find you, and that person will be someone who loves you. Their last memory of you is going to be them holding your #lifeless body in their arms and praying with every broken fibre of their being for all the special times they had with you to be given back. They won't be heartbroken - the pain they'll feel will be much worse. It doesn't even have a name, as there are no words that can justifiably articulate what Louise felt when she found Tracy hanging. People just use the word "heartbroken" when really and truly it's a cruel masterpiece in understatement. Louise now has to go for the rest of her #life knowing that Tracy is never going to be walking through the door again, they're never going to touch each others hand again, they're never going to have those special conversations only sisters have again, and that memory of finding Tracy is going to haunt her until her dying breath. You ever wondered why in executions they put a bag over the head of the person they're hanging? Ask Louise. She looked at her sisters face, blue from oxygen and blood starvation, tongue bulging and dangling out of her precious lips, eyelids barely open with the eyes turned away to the sclera. The beautiful eyes she once looked in and felt nothing but love, the beautiful mouth that once muttered words of complete sanctuary and happiness, the beautiful face that once lit up any room she walked into. She knows she will never see her sister the way she loved her again, and that's just the tip of the Iceberg. At Tracy's funeral, her mother and farther blame themselves. Her farther walked his daughter down the isle in a cold wooden box rather than a pretty white wedding dress. Her mother recalls the day Tracy and Louise emerged from her womb, and she held them both and promised she would protect them from whatever #life would throw their way. Tracy is now lying in a coffin, about to be lowered into a hole in the ground. Her friends and family stare in disbelief at what they're witnessing: the beautiful person that they loved has gone. They ask themselves why it happened and what could they have done? That's the thing with suicide - it is always preventable. This is what makes us stand over the grave and feel like a failure. She was our friend - why weren't we there for her when she need us most? As I write this, it's the 27th of March 2013. The events that caused Tracy to take her own #life had happened on this day last year. A year ago from the day I'm writing this, she only had 3 days to live. That's a very painfully thought for me, as it is for all her friends and family. When I sit here and think of how unfair the world is, it makes me very upset. There are so many bastards out there, causing horrific amounts of pain and suffering to innocent people - and yet there are people as beautiful and kind hearted as Tracy who're born into a world which 18 and a half years later makes them feel so low, they take their own #life. What would the world be like if God would allow us to trade in all the people that bring nothing but misery for all the people that brought nothing but joy? A much better place. The pain of knowing you're too late and you're never going to get a second chance is one of the most horrible feelings there is. Whatever it is that you're going through, you can get past it. You may feel like you have nothing left - but we're all stronger than we ever thought we could be. Write down how you feel; it'll help. If you feel the need to let a tear or two drop, then do so. You are never alone, you are never unthought of, and you are never unloved.

Are You Being Serious? Have to say, I’m not big on Facebook. I’ve never really liked it, only now use it to contact friends who’ve chosen to seek University education abroad. There are lots of things to dislike about Facebook; I’m certainly surprised that Facebook hasn’t addressed the issue that’s been looming for so long now of a “dislike” button. One thing that’s been catching my eye however is these picture’s that say “like for this; comment for that”. The picture in question that’s made me write this blog however is one that said “Is it okay for men to cry? Like for yes; comment for no”. What I’d really like to know however is why that question is even being asked in the first place? Are we really living in a world where there is a stereotype hanging over men meaning that if they were to let the odd bead of sadness emerge from their eyes, that they are week, pathetic, and useless? According to a few people who commented on the photo, men who cry ought to “grow a pair”, as they put it. Excuse the pun, and the French - but what a load of bollocks! How dare people question the emotions of a man! Men are human beings just like the rest of us, for God sake! To think there is something wrong with a man crying is like thinking there is something wrong with the way the Earth moves around the sun. It’s just ludicrous! If you think psychologically about the issue however, you’ll see that there is a difference between the way men and women show their emotions. Women tend to cry more often than men - it’s no secret. The majority of men tend to bottle their emotions up more, to one day, let them all out in one go. That’s in my experience, anyway. Crying - no matter who you are - is a great release. A sign that you have a heart; a sign that you are a real man. There is absolutely nothing manly about hiding away from your true feelings. I think it’s disgusting that when a man cries, it’s seen in such a way. The End!

Blogging I remember when I first used Opuss, and I liked everything, apart from the fact that I couldn't type on my iPhone in landscape orientation. Now, I'm told by my friends that not a lot of people use landscape orientation to type on an iPhone, so I guess that's why the developers made the choice not to exploit the function in the app. I however am a man with a hand-span of over 10 inches from the tip of my thumb to the tip of my little finger. With fingers that long - with thumbs like that - portrait orientation is impossible to use! Presumably, people who prefer to type in landscape use the iPhone "Notes" application and then copy the posts into Opuss. I have the "Pages" application which I use instead. Sometimes - when I'm feeling lazy, or just sick of typing with my thumbs - I Bluetooth my Apple Wireless Keyboard up to my iPhone and use that to type. I must admit however, blogging on a phone and tablet doesn't exactly give you the best blogging experience. Opuss say they're working on bringing their service to the computer, but the fact remains that it isn't here yet. Tumblr is what I use to blog on the computer. On my tumblr account I post blogs that give a view of the world in accordance to what I think of it. I don't mince words, and I broadcast a very honest opinion. Some people see it as attitude; I see it as saying things how they are. I call a spade a spade in every instance when applicable, whether it be for good, or for bad. That's the way things should be though. To hell with the nanny-state, and lets reacquaint ourselves with what's right!

Dear Taylor... Just before Christmas I was alerted through Facebook of a story by one of my 8,500+ YouTube subscribers. The story in question was one that moved me greatly, as it was very close to home. The friend in question told me a story about a girl who's in his class in School in America. This beautiful girl - Kayla Kincannon - had suffered with a brain tumour. Luckily, Doctors had managed to get rid of the tumour; however just before Christmas, the day before Kayla's 17th birthday, her and her family received the most awful news that Kayla's tumour had returned, this time the size of an orange. Her wonderful friends then took on an incredible challenge that I'm oozing with pride to say I was a part of. Here's the story... Kayla's friend contacted me and a load of other people for help. He directed me to a Facebook page that had been set up in regards to Kayla's condition and her story. We all have dreams, and we all have people in the public eye whom we respect and follow in an almost religious fashion. For Kayla, this person is Taylor Swift. On the Facebook page, it spoke of she was her Hero, and how much she loved her. The mission that her fantastic friends took on was simple yet in the grand scheme of things, seamed almost impossible: get Kayla to meet her idol, Taylor Swift. After I heard of the campaign through Facebook, I was only too happy to help. Twitter is where everyone went to to try and get Taylor to notice what we were doing, A trend - #OperationGetKaylaToMeetTaylorSwift - was created, and we all tweeted like mad! Having over 5,300 twitter followers myself, I felt input from me would move things along, especially if my followers would be so kind as to retweet my tweets and get the trend trending. Thanks to everyone's work, the hashtag was top trending and even made local news in Kayla's area. Watching as this small piece of history unfolded - even though it wasn't about me, or anyone that had made it possible - I felt incredibly proud to be a part of it. Despite the fact that I live on the other side of the world, despite the fact that I've never met them before, I'm not ashamed to admit, it moved me to tears. That was the 23rd of December; this is nearly a month on. It's taken time, work, prayers and patients, but I have just received the most phenomenal news from Kayla. As I write this blog, she is in a car, on a 4 hour journey to see the very person that her friends and associates around the world worked social networking magic to make possible: Taylor Swift. It really is one of them moment in #life when you have to pinch yourself. However many people were involved - who tweeted, hashtaged, retweeted, emailed and phoned the appropriate people - they're all responsible for this small miracle. I'd just like to take this moment to say a big thank you to all those who did make it possible. I hope you feel immensely proud as you have made a very special, very ill girls' dream come true. I feel proud; I was a part of this. People power is what made this possible, and it's something Kayla is going to remember for the rest of her #life. Thank you everyone, and thank you Lord.