Stars Shine Brightest In The Darkest Of Night: Don’t Give Up
The world is filled with bad news, so what better place than a blog like Little Green Footballs to talk directly to people?
It looks like someone needs to do it:
Local mental health professionals say many of the people calling them have reached their breaking point. Its keeping hotlines jammed and the voices on the other end are increasingly desperate.
With nowhere else to turn many people are calling suicide-prevention hotlines. “It’s very scary,” explained Margie Wright, the Executive Director of Suicide & Crisis Center of North Texas. “People pick up the newspaper, watch the television and all they hear is bad news and people are afraid and when they are afraid they go into crisis.” According to Wright, the center’s calls have increased by up to 15-percent.
Mental health experts say the sour economy has turned what usually manifests as seasonal blues into a full-blown crisis. The fear of losing one’s job and pressures caused by a downturn in business, demotion or pension plan cutbacks can be bad for mental health and therefore increase suicide risk.
I know what the feeling is like. The world is insane, tough and unpredictable. The people you love most are vulnerable, you’re vulnerable too and you’re all looking at one another for some protection.
A music group called the CunninLynguists recorded a song called “Stars Shine Brightest (In The Darkest Of Night).” Not only is the song beautifully produced and recorded, it has verses that are truly inspirational:
No astronomer has seen your incredible gleam
and you don’t need a telescope to detect dream
you blessed with a mind that can see through space
on dark nights, in the stars you can find your face
just look up and marvel at all the constellations
Egyptians built pyramids from these creations…
Against all odds and against the grain
sun becomes shelter in the midst of rain
in monsoon proportions them moments of importance
when victory’s in vain it’s the same the blood coursin
of course when selfishness inside provides poison
apply it to your life and let it sink in like ointment
poised when them black clouds come ‘round don’t back down
let haters be theme music playin’ in the background
Don’t look for the answers to your problems from politicians. Don’t even look for the answers from public figures. Look at the closest people around you and ask them. If they themselves are in trouble, think about what you would like to see happen in their lives. What do they need? What do you need? Who can provide that?
Times are tough and that means breaking down your prejudices about where help and wisdom can come from, not reinforcing them. Focussing on yourself might seem like the first common sense step to take, but in reality that is what we have all been doing for a long time. Remember your grandmother in the nursing home? Why on earth don’t you visit her? How about take a trip outside of the nursing home with her, to a park? Remember how amazing trips like that were as a child?
You will pleasantly find that your happiness can be expanded by the happiness of others. When you work hard to help bring happiness into the lives of the people around, you will have done alot more to create happiness in your own life than you could ever do on your own. You can be a bright star shining in the darkest of night.