Looking out the window early this morning it was evident that the world in the San Francisco Bay Area has returned to “normal.” At least on the outside it looked that way. Traffic was backed up bumper to bumper by 6:15 a.m. and as I was taking my puppy out for his morning Nature call, people were walking to their cars to head off to work.

I was heading off to work at the suicide prevention hotline, where life for most callers continues to be anything but normal. Most people are under the impression that the holidays are a trigger for suicidal people and yet statistically the closer we get to Spring time is the most crucial time for most. It’s when everyone seems to break free from the cold weather and wake up from the hibernation stage that lonely and depressed people tend to do the opposite: fall deeper into a stage of sadness.

Callers are plagued by severe depressions usually ranging from loss of a marriage, lack of health or declining health, financial trouble and so on. There is one common thread amongst our callers: the overwhelming and overshadowing feeling of loneliness. No one seems to care. No one seems to understand. No one can relate. There is no one to call. No one calls them. Add to that mix declining health with a grim hope for improvement and possibly a spouse or partner who is now seeing someone else and we are dealing with a recipe for disaster.

Having been at a place where I felt devastated about having to wait for a diagnosis of lymphoma and putting my thoughts together for my Last Will, I can empathize with most people who are in a similar position. Feeling stuck in a marriage that seemed like a true prison to me and was unhealthy for both of us but not knowing or seeing that I had a way out adds to my understanding of people who are finding themselves in the same place.

I realized that everything seemed to have been taken from me by some unknown force (and yet there was no one to blame): my happiness, my marriage, my health, even my days were numbered. I had hit rock bottom. I had nothing else to lose…

It was during this time that I had an inkling of hope, a flash of “aha!” popped into my mind: “What if I missed something?” "What if there WAS a way out and I had just missed it?" I did miss something, the most important thing of all – my purpose, the very reasons for which I have come to be here. I did not know what that purpose was at that very moment, I just knew that I was unique (just like everyone else) and that I had come to create something that was reserved for me only. I didn't know what it was yet, but I trusted that it would be shown to me in due time. All I needed to know right then was that there was more than what meets the eye.

A new desire emerged.

Note: I was never diagnosed with a mental illness and this post and any other of my posts are not meant to be substitution for medical advice.

So what did I do and how did I overcome my illness and change my life?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post where I share with you simple strategies that helped me recover once and for all and turn my life around to be the happy and living the successful life that I am living today. I am exited to share with you some tips that may just help some amazing people out there find hope for themselves.