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On a recent suicide…..

It is always easy to weigh in on someone else’s tragedy. Like spectator sports, everyone thinks they could do your life better than you. As someone who doesn’t suffer from clinical depression, but who has been depressed because of life’s unexpected twists and turns, I know a few things about feeling lost, prideful and without options.

Most brilliant people take control of the circumstances around them, hoping to score the next victory, the next win, or so I have been told. I have certainly aspired to own my destiny. However, as my priest so aptly reminded me at my low point, it is truly God who controls the sails of our lives. People and circumstances can be cruel, the storms of life can be overwhelming, and if you are one who strives above most, you are especially susceptible to that demon spirit of suicide.

Surely, it is taboo to mention or even talk about it, hence, it’s prevalence in snuffing the life out of the best amongst us. But God. No matter how high ‘the monkey climbs,’ he must remember that he too is merely a pawn in the game of life. God is the game master.

Now, we aspire to be the best pawn, playing by the rules, fairly and honestly; but, we don’t play by ourselves, or with those like us. Therefore, we need faith to carry us beyond the threshold of failures, disappointments, set-backs, in order to make it through that temporary storm to the other side of the next success.

I have had colleagues, friends and associates, who fell under the spell of the suicide spirit, and I know that but God, I could have as well.

Life is so unpredictable. The people you think are good, turn out to be bad; the situations you thought were sure successes, turn out to be failures; the child you thought would bring you the greatest joy, turned out to be just as human as everyone else, and the family you gave your all to, turns out to be like every other dysfunction common to man.

Who cares? I know the brilliant person does. He or she wants to create perfection out of imperfection; joy out of sadness; success out of failures-and sometimes it happens that way. However, there are times when it does not, and we are faced with the incapacity of being simply human.

I was a perfect child until; I was on the perfect path until; I was the envy of everyone before…..; there is always that time. But for God, we would all succumb.

As Father Brady, May His Soul R.I.P., reminded me, we plan but God directs. Be prepared for failures as much as you prepare for successes; and when failures or the unexpected happens, remember that you worship a redemptive God, and He will fight the battles, heals the wounds, and right the wrongs in His time, which is always on time.

Your only task during the storm is to hold on, have faith, ride the wave and let God direct the sails. Easy to say, but as one who has practiced this method, there is more life to see, more successes to experience, more failures to overcome, more love to give, more hate to snuff out and more disappointments to endure; but, only if you are here to feel, live, enjoy, and cry through each moment, knowing that they are indeed temporary, for nothing in this life is permanent, but God.

I empathize with falling victim to the spirit of suicide because it has visited me. No one would know that I received this visit however, because I smiled with the world just the same. But, thanks to my Mom and Grandma, who would never have any idea that in grooming me to be honest, prayerful, giving, empathetic, selfless and conscientious, they were saving my life, I am here to appreciate someone who succumb to the trance of the spirit of suicide. Again, no one knows the thoughts of a man nor his travails, so please try to refrain from weighing your two cents in.

As the holiday season comes upon us, let us be mindful that it is also by statistics, the most tragic season. Let’s be kind, let’s smile, let’s choose to quell hate and suppress oppression wherever it exists. Peace, love, hope and charity to all.

Published by: Local Lives, Global Voices

I, Chandra Young, ‘the moon that outshines the stars, was born in Kingston Jamaica to an Indian Father whose family migrated from India, and a mulatto mother, whose family, paternally and maternally, trace their history on the island to the 17th century sale of slaves, and slaves themselves. We migrated to the United States while I was a youngster. I later went on to graduate from The City College of New York, with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science; then Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, with a Jurisdoctor degree; and I am currently on hiatus from my doctoral studies in Law and Policy at Northeastern University. After graduating from law school, I successfully sat for both the Florida and New York Bars, and worked in both the Private and Public Sectors. Simultaneously, my role as mother and my passion for education pushed me into Academia, where I have lectured at colleges in the areas of Political Science, History, Business Law, Sociology, Pluralism and Diversity, Critical Thinking, Critical Academic Reading and English Composition. In these capacities, I have mentored inner city/urban college students, and have also served as Guardian Ad Litem to the Seminole County Courts, where I advocated on behalf of children of families in crisis. Being a scholar of Political Science in my collegiate years, I contributed my talents and passions towards championing of the rights of my fellow students, many of whom, like myself, were of Immigrant families. I was instrumental in a student movement that spearheaded a University-wide student boycott protesting tuition hikes in the City University system. The successful protest led to the shutdown of all the University’s colleges in every Borough, and got the attention of the media and politicians of the day. The result of the successful protest was a halt of any tuition increase for several fiscal terms. Today, the City University and State University systems are free to families earning less that $125,000.00, which include most urban, inner-city and immigrant students. While at City College, I was selected as a student ambassador contestant in the Ms. Jamaica-USA pageant, sponsored by the Jamaica Progressive League and the Honorable Una Clarke, the first Caribbean and Jamaican born woman to be elected to the legislature of the City of New York, and mother of United States Congresswoman Yvette Clark. A diligent advocate of affordable housing for New Yorkers, I was committed to the mission of realizing the American dream of home ownership for New Yorkers and I am the recipient of a Proclamation by the City Council of the City of New York, for my efforts in that regard. My dedication to the City of New York and immigrant communities, particularly those of Caribbean heritage, have been unwavering, and I was presented with the Marcus Garvey Award of Recognition by the New York based Jamaica National Movement, for service to Jamaicans and Caribbean people in the City of New York. I continued my passion of being a part of a mission to champion the rights of underprivileged and underrepresented persons in my recent milestone, the United States Peace Corps, where I dedicated 18 months of my life, away from home and family, to the people of Jamaica, as a Literacy Adviser and Community Developer. I am the mother of two children, a writer, blogger and poet. I always loved writing. As a child, I remember finding privacy and solace to write in my garage, where I could hide the written pages amongst the plethora of books our family stored there. I began blogging on my Facebook page and was encouraged by friends who enjoyed by posts, to start a blog. I officially started this blog during my Peace Corps Service, but it is certainly not limited to my service. In fact, it represents an amalgamation of thoughts expressed and lived through the direct and vicarious experiences that being a global citizen can provide. This blog is my way of building a bridge that connects our local lives experienced in our specific localities, with the global voices that unites us in the similar experiences, concerns, pains, passions, etc that joins us together as human beings in spite of geography. You there.......Me here. We....together in one world....one humanity.

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