In this pre‑recorded holiday episode of Mental Health Matters (formerly Suicide Prevention Saturday), the host thanks long‑time viewers by name, gives a brief tour of their living‑room Christmas tree, and delivers a heartfelt message encouraging viewers to practice gratitude, resilience, and mindful breathing during the holiday season. The speaker emphasizes that challenges are blessings that foster growth, reminds the audience of the value of life, and urges anyone struggling to reach out for help or to support others. The tone is warm, conversational, and supportive, aiming to uplift viewers as they navigate family dynamics and seasonal stress.
Chapters
Hey everybody, welcome to Mental Health Matters, formerly known as Suicide Prevention Saturday. It is the weekend before Christmas and I'm not here. I mean, I am here because you're watching, but this is a pre-recorded video because we have family things to do on the week before Christmas. So I just want to pop on, say thank you so much for encouraging me and following and your comments and your encouragements throughout the year and since I started this back in 2018. Special shout out to folks like Michael Ballinger, who has been the longest viewer since he followed me all the way from Facebook to YouTube. And for all of the rest of you like DJ and BBQ and Gun Websites and Hillbilly and Jamie and— oh my goodness, I should have made a list before I started this because I could just go on and on— Gizzard Gary and There are just so many of you. Of course, my favorite pink hand waving, you know who you are. So there are just so many of you, and I wish I could go through the entire list and call you all out by name, but I didn't make a list, so that's going to make that difficult. So DJ suggested y'all might want to see something besides my office, so here's my messy house. No, really, I just want to show you my Christmas tree. And there it is. It really does take up like, I don't know, a good third of our room here in our living room here in Harwington. And, uh, it probably would be cooler if I showed it to you at night because then you could really see the lights and stuff. But yes, we have like real tinsel on there and everything. It's not allowed in every country, so you can get it shipped in. And we don't have cats, so we're not going to kill any of our cats because we have tinsel, which is why I think it was mostly, uh, taken away. So I hope in this holiday season, whether you're celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or whatever else there is, because I don't know all those holidays, that you are looking forward to starting yet another spectacular year. May you have blessings. May you have the strength to get through the hard times. May you be able to enjoy every moment with your family. And when you're not enjoying those moments with family, because sometimes they can be challenging, may you remember, take that deep breath, that momentary pause, and think about how blessed we all are because we are 6 feet above ground and not 6 feet under it. And there are people that will not make it through this day. And we need to be thankful for all of our stuff, including our challenges, if not especially for our challenges, because our challenges are truly what make us grow. When we are comfy and lying on our tube in the lazy river down in Florida, or wherever you do that sort of thing, and we are just floating and enjoying life, that is the best thing ever. However, we wouldn't appreciate it as much without the challenges that we have throughout our lives. Now, if you are like me, there are times when we say, hmm, I wish God did not have as much faith in me as he seems to, because they say that God does not give you more than you can handle. And there are absolutely times when I'm like, okay, I'm handling this. I'm not sure it's graceful. I don't know that it's the best, but here I am. And when we get through that, we can look back and be like, wow, I did do that. I didn't crumble. I didn't break. It was hard. And the hard work is what builds muscles. So on this Mental Health Matters Saturday, may you be blessed. May you remember how many blessings there are in our lives. Remember, even our challenges are our blessings. Don't give up. Keep going. If you need help, reach out. If you don't need help, reach out to somebody else because you never know. And if you do need help, reach out to help somebody. Uh-oh, I have to go. My students are back. Well, y'all have a wonderful, spectacular holiday season. Merry Christmas to all and to all All.
