Look Beneath the Smile

We lost one of the funniest people in the world today.  The irony is that Robin Williams had battled depression and alcoholism for years and made no secret of it, and yet I find it terribly hard to believe that he would succumb to it even though his calling in life was to make people laugh.

Depression is a powerful illness.  It can cause you to lose who you are and who you were meant to be.  It can be treated with medications but many people don't know that it can also be treated with a simple act of kindness.

A husband could take out the trash that's been piling up for weeks because his wife has reached the point of not caring about their home any more.  Or a wife could do that one thing her husband loves so much for her to do.  A child could do chores the way the parents would if they had done the job themselves.  Friends could realize that their friend is struggling to hide the pain behind the rants and raves that they post daily.

However we as a society see what is only in front of us, but refuse to dig deeper into what's wrong with each other because we are scared we might find out more about ourselves.  Especially about things we try desperately to hide even from ourselves.

Remember today to just look and listen.  You might find a missing piece of yourself that you didn't realize was missing.