Life is a very beautiful and messy thing. Some days, everything is perfect, and other days everything is crumbling down and you feel like there is no hope whatsoever. And honestly, you will probably have a lot of those days where you wonder why you got out of bed that morning and all you want to do is break down and cry. Bad days are guaranteed. But I promise you that you will also have the good days too where the sun is shining just perfectly and the wind is light and cool, and those days are the days that are simply amazing and you think, “I’m glad I didn’t give up before.”  Those are the days you push for. When you’re having a bad day, just remember those sunny days whether you were with your family or by yourself or riding around town with your friends with the windows down and the music blasted.

Life is made from the mistakes, and giving up should never be an option. September 7-13 was suicide prevention week. Suicide is not a joke and it has a long term, heart breaking effect on those left behind. Suicide has impacted my life in a very major way. When I was eight years old, my mom took her own life, and I’ve spent most of mine trying to figure out why and wondering and wishing my eight-year-old self would have noticed the warning signs. It has been eleven long years, and I still find myself trying to remember what her voice sounds like. I will never be the same without her, and a piece of me went with her. Suicide is never the answer and I wish she would have known that. I wish she would have thought of all the people that love her and I wish she would have thought of those sunny days where everything was perfect.

Suicide is preventable and people who want to commit suicide are not weak; they are sick and need all the help, love and kind support they can get. When you feel like hurting yourself, please just remember how special and loved you are. Also you should talk to a trusted adult about how you feel, or call the suicide hotline at 1-800-784-2433. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. You are not crazy. You are not weak or foolish. You are strong and brave.  You are never alone and there is always light at the end of the tunnel. You may not think that there is, but there is sunshine and there is happiness and there is hope at the end of the tunnel. Death is not the answer; living is. Just remember, there are so many sunshine days ahead, so don’t ever give up. Just remember the sunshine.