It is his story that makes me realize that depression can happen to anyone, at anytime, no matter who you are, no matter the circumstances, celebrity or not, and no matter how hard a person fights it, sometimes, heartbreakingly, it wins in the end. I know I've felt discouraged, I've felt hopeless, I've faced financial hardships, I've been a witness to heartache, I've lost loved ones, and I've experienced a major surgery that afterward made me question if I would ever be myself again, knowing I would never be the same "me" that I was before. I've felt it...I've feared it...and I'll forever be grateful that I've survived it...but sadly some don't...
It truly breaks my heart for those who aren't able to overcome it. I wonder how many of us would be surprised to know the pain lurking inside another. How many times have we passed someone in the grocery store, at the gas pumps, sat next to them at a stoplight, or worse yet, kissed them goodnight, hugged them good-bye, told them we'd call them, left believing we'd see them again, yet never really looking at them, not fully understanding the ache inside their heart or the demons inside their mind. Do we look into each other's eyes, I mean really look? Do we see far enough into other's eyes to feel the pain in the stare, hear the words they're trying to convey, as they hold our eyes a few minutes longer than we thought they should? Are we so wrapped up in our own lives that we don't have a few extra minutes to ask someone what's going on in theirs? And then going so far as to actually listen to their response? Or are we the ones praying someone will notice the pain in our eyes, even if there's a smile on our face?
It really angers me that loss brings me clarity. It breaks my heart that it takes the last breath of another to open my eyes to the things I should be aware of every day. Beginning tonight, I'm challenging myself to take a more active role in the lives of those around me. Some people need help, they just don't know how to ask for it or they just don't know how to accept it. Either way, it's up to each of us to raise awareness of a disease that continues to take our loved ones from us each day.
Depression is real...it can be final or it can be overcome. In the words of the extremely talented Robin Williams, "You will have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren’t paying attention to." Let's all open our eyes up to each other...
RIP - Robin Williams
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