Quit on the chapter; not on the book.

First of all, just so you know, this piece is not to encourage any of you to go and quit your job; this is to try and initiate a crucial conversation around why some people, instead of quitting on a chapter, happen to quit on the very hope of restoring vibrancy in life during & after a series of emotional hits.  

Secondly, allow me to tell you about the subject that is darker than black magic for a majority of people around the world. This subject is dark because it triggers the release of a thousand mixed emotions, all at once. Yes, it is ’suicide’ that I’m referring to. 

Well, you can choose to navigate to something else that’s stress-relieving & entertaining or you can stay here with all ears. And, in case you’re choosing to stay here, I suggest you lower your guard for my aim is not to cause any harm. 

Alright, let's begin this by closing eyes and thinking of 'suicide' for a minute.

Done? Now, open your eyes think of what you just saw- if you saw the individual who you know suicided, then you probably empathise with the person. Whereas, if you saw the friends & family of the person, then you probably empathise with the ones who are left mourning.  

You see, you cannot sneak into somebody else’s mind to see what all they are thinking about; you can only counsel them based on your assumptions. However, you can always compassionately give yourself some headspace to step back for a quick diagnosis whenever you find yourself emotionally injured. 

Your injury might be a consequence of your recent project failure or a relationship failure or somebody's tragic death or a hard-to-compensate monetary loss or a team failure, or because of something unfavourable that your organisation has decided for you without your consent.

What I mean to suggest here is- no matter how occupied you may be at the time of your injury, you just cannot afford to wait for your wound to get furthermore infested; do not ignore the pain thinking that you can address all that’s troubling you in the vacation time and get back to everyday life all healed-up. What if you get too late and your head & heart becomes a toxic place before you even plan your retreat?

Here’s something Dr Guy Winch said over the TED stage while delivering his talk on the concept of emotional hygiene-

“We all know how to maintain our physical health and how to practice dental hygiene, right? We've known it since we were five years old. But what do we know about maintaining our psychological health? Well, nothing. What do we teach our children about emotional hygiene? Nothing. How is it that we spend more time taking care of our teeth than we do our minds? Why is it that our physical health is so much more important to us than our psychological health?” 

It is time for you to stop doing favouritism towards your body and start considering your physical and psychological health equally important. Whether doing so requires you to throw your coat at the backseat, loosen your tie and go jogging around an entire nation like Mike Posner (https://bit.ly/2mdvRlJ) or whether it requires you to go hiking with a stranger (https://bit.ly/2lKAoM8) or whether it requires you to buy a mesmerising bonsai for your desk (https://bit.ly/2kvcwvW) and get it sent to your address with a sweet anonymous note on it as if it has come as an absolute surprise to you. 

Most importantly, beginning from our homes and offices, we at the society level have to stop stigmatizing stories and episodes concerning psychological health. Else, we will go on to lose more people like- Chester Bennington, Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Avicii, Mac Miller, VG Siddhartha, Jiah Khan, Parveen Babi, Robin Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, Ernest Hemingway, Vincent Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, my friend, and my uncle. 

However, I do believe that if one by one we all will begin to pay greater attention to our psychological health by timely providing ourselves with emotional first-aid then we can surely achieve a significant amount of reduction in suicide rates, drug abuse, and gun violence.

Let’s live care-freely, not carelessly and if required, quit on chapters (situations) not on the book (life.)

Thank you for staying and hearing. May you always find the light at the end of the tunnel and strength to get through that tunnel. 

#SuicidePrevention #EmotionalHygiene #PsychologicalHealth #CompassionFirst #SelfLove #GuyWinch #TedTalk #CelebrityTribute #LinkedinForGood