In April the mental health community is celebrating the semicolon project. This project hopes to save lives of those with depression, anxiety, or who have contemplated suicide.

Why semicolon? The period ends the sentence, the semicolon suggests there is more still to say and do. Those who struggle with self-harming and/or contemplating suicide need to remember the events of today are not the end of the story. Rather than using a period, add a semicolon.

If you know someone who struggles, or if you are the one who struggles, remember the trials and problems of today are not the end, there is always more to your story.

All stories, including life stories, include challenges and struggles to make them interesting. The story doesn’t end in the middle of the struggle, it would ruin the story. The main character of the story grows and learns as they are challenged.

The same is true of the story of your life. No one lives a “happily ever after” live, who would want to, it would be boring!

We learn as we struggle and we grow as we confront challenges. It starts at birth. Little children fight and struggle to hold their heads up, to crawl, to walk, to eat, to be self-sufficient individuals.

The challenges don’t end as we reach a certain age, they only change. We have learned to walk, to eat without making a huge mess, and to take care of ourselves, but there continues to be challenges to face, trials to overcome. They make our lives interesting and help us to be better.

Even after the time comes that we are called home to live in another existence, we will face challenges as we improve our lives, to become better and grow to be the best we can be, to borrow an Army quote.

Join the semicolon project, for yourself and for your loved ones. Do all you can to prevent the premature periods in the lives of people we love!

Together, we can save a life, or many lives!