On dignity

Be brave enough to start that conversation that matters.

The one you wish to have with your parent for years. To tell them about your version of this life and your version of the truth.

The one you wish to have with your partner for weeks. To tell them you’ve grown apart. And that it scares you.

The one you wish to have with your friend. To tell them you are so grateful for their having chosen you, and that your life would be unbearable without them.

The one you wish to have with your child. To tell them life is as much grey as it is pink, and that the biggest lesson you may ever be able to gift them, is that of its entirety in beauty.

The one you wish to have with yourself.

Be brave enough to start all the conversations you undoubtedly know were there no tomorrow, you’d want to have in a second. Don’t deviate too long. Not because of the dramatism of this “maybe there’s no tomorrow” – although…  – but because you would steal from yourself all the truth, the love, the sorrow, the despair and the excitement only some spoken truths carry with them. You’d fool yourself around, assuming this and that end, and this and that possible answer or reaction or action. You’d stumble on oh, so many facts of fiction in your troubled imagination – and you’d end up so sadly far from reality.

Be brave enough to stand your ground. Be bold enough to speak your truth. Be kind enough to choose your words with love, though. Be patient enough in your waiting. You want to feel the time is right. There is no rush. But once you’re there, hesitate no further. Do have that conversation. It’ll give you dignity. And in your dignity, it’s pure dignity you shall grant anyone else in return.

Did you know that at least 350 million people live with depression, and that it is the leading cause of disability worldwide in terms of total years lost due to disability? Did you know that because of the stigma that is often still attached to depression, many fail to acknowledge that they are ill, and do not seek treatment? Did you know that almost 1 million people take their own lives each year, and that for every person who commits suicide, there are 20 or more who make an attempt? This is one of the conversations that matters to me today. So much so, that even if it gives me shivers to my spine every time when I approach it, even so I feel almost physical pain as I open up, even if it did crush and burn my mind and my soul, there is dignity in truth. And dignity remains essential in this path called healing.