You Are Enough

It seems that there has been a recent spike of suicides in the media. Celebrities, teens around the country, everywhere. What hits me the hardest, though, is the recent deaths in my own hometown. There have been multiple deaths since the new year at home. Some of these deaths have been accidental, but far too many have been incidents of suicide. 

Suicide is such a heartbreaking thing. It is 100% preventable, yet it is still prevelant in our society. Suicide can happen for a variety of reasons, but I believe that most of these reasons are coupled with depression and/or mental illness. A huge problem is that there is some sort if stigma around mental illness. This stigma runs deep in society and is often times just wished away instead of being properly handled and treated. It is forgotten until someone is pushed to the brink and takes their life. However, the pain doesn't stop there. The pain continues on through family members and loved ones in a vicious cycle. 

I think at some point in our lives, we all go through a "breaking" event. Death, depression, abuse, stress, divorce; so many things can leave us feeling broken. I've heard so many individuals that self harm say how broken they feel. That no amount of glue could make them whole again, but I know that isn't true. The Lord created us, and He can certainly fix us. It's kind of like stained glass. We see these beautiful, intricate pieces of art in buildings around the world, and they look whole and perfect and special. In reality, these works of art are just broken, melted glass that have been "fixed" by the artist. The artist took broken pieces of glass and made them into something bigger and more beautiful than they ever could have been before. He made them better than before. This is just like the Savior. He loves each and every one of us, and wants to help. He wants to give us everything. He wants us to be happy, strong, confident, peaceful, and faithful. But sometimes for that to happen, we have to break. Breaking is painful, but can be beautiful if we rely on the Savior to pick up the pieces and put us back together. The wonderful thing is that He will always leave us better than He found us. 

Please know that no matter what people say or do to you that you are enough! You are beautiful, you are loved, and you are wanted! Never let anyone tell you differently! No matter how bad things are, they can always get better. If you end things, you are only preventing things from improving. You are wonderful. You are so loved.

 If you are in emotional distress or thinking about suicide, please know that help is available. For confidential crisis counseling, you can always contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) andsuicidepreventionlifeline.org.

Step up, speak out. 

❤️Lindsay