“I just wanted to say I’ll be hard to reach for a while. I just found out an old teammate killed himself. I’ll talk to you soon.”

This text came today from a friend of mine who is a Green Beret Sniper…

The information struck me emotionally and I immediately burst into tears.

There is nothing in this world more cruel, than the desolation of having nothing to hope for.

I know this person didn’t want to die.

But they also didn’t know how to live.

Failing to accept a life any less than the gold standard you truly want is what makes loneliness so personal, rather than an ordinary mistake.

Today, my AMBITIOUS AF community, this is my message for those suffering an unbearable burden for any reason…

DECIDE TO KEEP GOING!

To carry on in pursuit of your best life…

To carry on for those you care deeply about who are still living…

To carry on for the diagnosed, whose mortal time is limited…

To carry on for the memory of those who have passed on.

Why?

Because it’s your OBLIGATION.

And if you didn’t realize this already…

Realize it now.

If you want a better life, YOU have to get better in life.

There is no short cut around this.

It’s on you to sharpen and maintain your mind, heart, and body.

This is your weaponry.

If your weapons are weak it will be nearly impossible to produce favorable outcomes.

If you want better you have to be better.

And to be better, you have to seal the cracks in your foundation and become a better you FIRST.

When you get better, other people see this and it gives them the silent permission to make positive changes in their life, too.

Do you feel like shit right now?

Good.

Go take that energy and make someone’s day with it.

It’s the best way to immediately enhance your mood.

I know you’re struggling.

I struggle, too.

We’re all dealing with something no one knows about.

That’s why is your OBLIGATION to become that badass motherfu cker only you know lives within…

And be strong enough to bring others along.

If not you, then who?

With fire and love,

Erin

P.S. Dial 988 for 24/7 confidential crisis support. Help is available.

P.P.S. Please do NOT say someone “committed suicide.” People who have lost a loved one to suicide already feel the stigma around the way their loved one died and this statement can compound the grief experience.

Instead, the appropriate language to use is someone “took their life,” or “died by suicide.”