Mental Health Matters - Think of a time that you were truly happy or joyful!
In this livestream, Brooke Cheney, owner and instructor of A Great Start Shooting School, hosts a Mental Health Matters (formerly Suicide Prevention Saturday) session. She opens by highlighting that two‑thirds of gun deaths are suicides, underscoring the need to discuss mental health and violence prevention. The core of the talk invites viewers to recall a moment of true happiness or joy, prompting live chat participation. Brooke shares several personal memories—a wedding aisle moment, a childhood dirt‑bike ride, whipped‑cream fights with her sister—to illustrate how vivid, positive recollections can be used as emotional anchors. She introduces the concept of “stacking” happy memories, especially during difficult times like holidays or after a loss, and recommends practical coping tools such as Mel Robbins’ 5‑4‑3‑2‑1 grounding technique. Throughout, she emphasizes community interaction, encouraging comments, story‑sharing, and engagement with other creators. Brooke also mentions small, tactile comfort objects (squishy toys, unicorns) that provide instant mood lifts. The session concludes with gratitude for reaching 500 subscribers, holiday well‑wishes, and a reminder to check out a fellow creator’s content.
Chapters
And then there I was. Oh well, technical difficulties. Y'all know it wouldn't be Saturday night if it were not me and technical difficulties because I don't have my DJ with me right now. So anyway, happy Suicide Prevention Saturday, now known as Mental Health Matters, and I'm still going to go back and forth between those two because Suicide Prevention Saturday started in 2018. So it is Saturday night, and why are we here? Because so many people don't know that 2 out of every 3 gun deaths we hear about are suicides. And if we really want to save lives, we need to talk about mental health. We need to talk about violence prevention. So here we are. It is another Saturday night. It is 9 PM Eastern, ideally. If you're watching the replay, thanks for checking us out. Leave a comment. Let us know. Got questions? Leave them in the comments. Yeah, I think they're all on the comments. I mean, I think they're all below for Facebook, YouTube, all of that fun stuff. So for those of you first time here, hi, my name is Brooke Cheney. I am the owner and instructor here at A Great Start Shooting School. It says it there and it says it here. So what was a time that you are truly happy or joyful? Does something pop to your head immediately, just like that? Or you're like, oh, I'm always miserable, I don't have anything joyful in my life. I hope not. I hope that's not the case. So let's talk about happiness and joy. It comes in so many forms, right? So happiness is what Go ahead, put it in the chat. What do you think? Those of you who are live, those of you who are watching replay, feel free to put it down below. I'd love to see what you think happiness is. So I'll give you a minute, think about it. There's also that, like, what, 5-second delay between what I say and when you see it. So I have to give you at least 10 seconds to decide what you think happiness and joy are. So Happiness, that feeling, that joyful, light-hearted, perhaps that thing that makes you smile. So here's the thing, go ahead, I double dog dare you, put a smile on your face. And it doesn't have to be a cute smile. Well, it might be a creepy smile. It depends on who you are. Some of us have a challenge smiling on purpose. And, um, smiling whether you want to or not. That starts the fake it until you make it. And if you think of something that makes you happy, it could be so many things, right? So happiness— this is going to sound really weird, but happiness comes in so many flavors, in so many memories, because our happy memories are the ones that make us smile. So let me give you some from my childhood. Well, not even my childhood. How about my adult life? I'll only go back 25 years. How about that? So 1999, August 28th, I'm in church standing at the top of the aisle, looking down the aisle at my husband. And I'm looking at that man and I am just thinking, I did not know that my heart could grow another few sizes. I felt like the Grinch from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas because I'm looking at that man and my heart is literally growing. I'm realizing that I am capable of more love than I ever thought possible. Because prior to this, I'm not gonna lie, I actually thought that he loved me more than I loved him. I didn't feel I was worthy of his love. I didn't think I could love him as much as I realized at the top of the aisle as I'm about to walk down and actually marry this man for real. So that has to be one of my happiest memories. Now, There are other happy memories. Let's see, um, not entirely sure of the year, but I was younger, maybe 12, 13, 14, might have been a little older, not sure. I am in New Hampshire at the sand pits riding my dirt bike. Been there before. There's a whole new crew there. I hadn't seen them before. So you're in the sand pits, you're on dirt bike riding around, it's awesome, taking jumps, all sorts of fun. At this particular sand pit, there's an overlook where there's a picnic table, random picnic table out in the woods in a sand pit. So I'm out there riding, we've been riding around for an hour, these guys have been here, I think they were there longer than me. I just came in because I could drive there, I could ride there from my dad's. So maybe 13, I'm not sure, 14. But anyway, I got my bod pod on, I got my helmet on, and we're riding. For those who want to know, a CR125. And it's fun, and I'm having a blast, and jumps are one of my favorite things, and just doing circles and all that fun stuff. So some of the kids stop up at the picnic table, so I go up and I stop at the picnic table, and they're— they've got their helmets off, and I take my helmet off, and one of the kids looks at me. He's like, you don't ride like a girl. And so that was like— that was another one of my favorite moments in my life that just brings me joy, because I'm like, that's cool. I'm glad to know I don't ride like a girl. So anyway, Your turn. What is a single moment of your life that you recall that just thinking about it right now, right, puts that little bit of smile? Maybe there's a giggle. I don't know. I'm not here to judge. I just want to know what makes you happy and joyful. What was something that happened that no matter what you're going through right now, you can remember and be like, oh, 'That was fun,' or 'That made me laugh so hard my stomach hurts.' My brother and I, when we are together, it is the most that I laugh ever. My— watching my daughter and her brother— and my daughter and my son, yeah, that, that's how that actually works there. Um, watching them laugh is one of the greatest gifts that is out there. It could be simple. It could be getting a good grade on a test. It could be your boss saying good job. It could be a time that your mom said, oh, you cooked that really well, or whatever it is. So it shouldn't be that hard to find a time in your life where you're happy and joyful, just a moment. I'm not saying you have to be happy and joyful all the time, but find that, find that memory. And then once you find that one, find another one. And then once you find a second one, find another one. Because here on Mental Health Matters, my desire is to help give you tools and remind myself of the tools that I already have that will help me change my focus when I'm having that bad day. Because we have that broken heart thing, right? We have that horrible day that occurred, or more than one, depending on how things go. And then there's another and another and another. The challenge is so often we can immediately come up with that, "Oh yeah, the day my sister died, that sucked." And everyone can say, "Oh yeah, I got that. Yeah, that's horrible." But at the same time, I find all too often We don't talk about those happy, joyful moments. We want to dim our candle and not let people know about that happy moment that we had because it's ours. And well, maybe you don't have the love of your life, so how dare I talk about the happiest moment, finding the love of my life and realizing that this is the best day ever. How horrible is that? The idea that I would hide my love for my husband so you don't feel bad because maybe you don't have that. This is some of our stinking thinking that we got going on in here, right? So the time you are happy, the time you are joyful, stack those thoughts, stack those ideas. As I talked about last week, the holidays can be super hard. Especially if this is one of those first holidays you're going through without somebody. And here's the thing, last week we talked about this. Abigail's talking about losing her— oh my gosh, I think it was her mom. And if you're Abigail, I'm sorry, if your mom is still here, I— it was somebody else, your brother maybe. So that first holiday without those people, instead of really— you do you, but I'm just going to suggest maybe you think about why you miss them, right? What was a time you sat there with that person and you just had the biggest laugh ever? Or there was just something in their face where they just rolled their eyes or like, oh my gosh, you just did what? And there's just that conversation. Because the reason we're so sad when we lose people is because we're missing those joyful moments. We know there's not any more. However, if we look back and think about the joyful moments we had with those people, like my little sister and I, from time to time we would have whipped cream fights in the, in the, in the, in the entire house, not like just in the kitchen. And you know, you get a can of whipped cream And she has one and I have one, and sometimes my cousin would have one, and we would literally chase each other around with whipped cream and spray it on each other. And yeah, we cleaned up afterwards and it kind of sucked, but it was hysterical and we're laughing the whole time. So it's like when we lose that person, we know we can't do those things anymore and we miss that and our heart hurts and we wish they were here to create new memories. But if you're about to go through a holiday for the first time with someone missing at the table, by all means, think about a story, think about a time, think about a smile, think about something they did that made you laugh, think about something you did that made them laugh, and try to stack the good stuff on top of the good stuff. Because quite honestly, most of us are really good about looking at the bad stuff because that's where everybody likes to pigpile, because that's where everybody's like, well, if I tell you that I'm suffering, then you're suffering. And then, well, you know, I don't have to feel bad. Or, you know, maybe you're suffering more than me, so it makes me feel better. If we look for the happiness and joy and we share the happiness and joy, like Jamie, I don't know if you're here tonight, because this is prerecorded. Yes. Like Jamie. Oh my gosh. He's got such a huge family. And so I'm sure he's got family that drives him nuts. I'm sure he's got family that makes him smile. If Jamie was my grandpa, I'd be happy and that I, and he makes me smile and Hillbilly is usually here. And you know, the people who have big hearts are the ones that seem most joyful because we're willing to share with you what is happy, what is good. And we're also not going to like necessarily tell you that, oh, everything is wonderful and you should just be happy, happy, happy, because that's not real either. But I do love the Mel Robbins thought process on if you're mad, angry, upset, Acknowledge those things and then go 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and let it go. Now, does that take some practice? Yeah. Does it work every time? No. But work on changing that. Where are we happy? Where are we joyful? Maybe we're not joyful right this second because we just stubbed our toe and we're trying really hard not to say all the words that we want to have come out of our mouth right at that moment. When I'm in extreme pain, it's usually very, very quiet because I'm doing my best not to swear and scream and that sort of stuff. However, happiness and joyfulness— like, every time I catch one of Tara Smith Kitchen's videos, live or replay, I'm like, hunger, food looks so good. Always makes me happy because To me, when someone's cooking, they're taking care of themselves and the people around them, and it just shows care and kindness and loving. So I love Tara Smith's Kitchen because food— who doesn't love food? And especially when you see food that you wouldn't necessarily make. So, uh, it is always fun. Same thing with sharing that happiness and the joyfulness. So with that, there are little things in life that can make you happy and joyful. I don't know how well y'all can see this. I know some of you, like DJ, are watching on a screen that is this big, but this is a squishy toy that I have in my classroom, and this squishy toy brings me joy. Why? Well, because blue is one of my favorite colors. Second, Well, the squishiness of it, just being able to watch it go squish back and forth, um, it's just fun. It makes me happy because it's something tactile, doesn't make noise. So when I have my students in my class, they go click, click, click with pens, I give them one of these and they can go click, click, click and it doesn't bother anyone. However, another thing that makes me happy, one of my friends that I met at the state house, which is very stressful because we're up there testifying all the time about gun bills and things that don't actually help prevent violence. Oh, so that's not as happy. But he gave me a nickname, and my nickname is rainbows, unicorns, and deadly force. And I thought that was adorable, so I have a rainbow. I know, wait, this is a unicorn. There it is. There's my rain— my rainbow unicorn. He's not a rainbow unicorn, he's just a unicorn. But this makes me happy because it's another squishy toy. Uh, another thing, when I've got girls or guys in my thing, if they're making too much noise with their hands, I just give this to them like, here, look, you can play. So unicorns make me happy, and this isn't the only one that I have. I have another unicorn. Yes, this is supposed to be a phone holder, but to be fair, I put my phone in here a couple times, but not that often. But it's really just a unicorn. Anywho, things can make us happy, events can make us happy, people can make us happy, uh, things— I think I said that already because those were things. So Happiness comes in all sorts of forms. By all means, please, please, please leave me comments. I keep going over there. I'm like, I'm not sure which side it shows up. I think it shows up over there, but it could be over here because I don't know. If you're watching the replay, leave down here. Leave me some stuff. What is happy? What is joyful to you? What is a wonderful memory that you have of some event somewhere in your life? I was also thinking before I started this, baptism. For those of you who are Christian out there and have been baptized, there is something pretty magical about all of that as far as under the water, back up, or maybe you're getting splashed depending on which version of Christian you are. But that renewal, that opportunity to start over, that sort of stuff. So I ramble on, and I just want to thank you all again for helping me hit 500 subs. I appreciate you guys. And I hope that you have a most blessed and wonderful week or day or whenever, because in case you're like just on the playlist running through a bunch of these, I don't know. And it's almost Christmas, so that is also very fun and exciting, and I am not ready. I hope you are. I'm not. So with that, have an awesome night, have an awesome week, have have an awesome moment. It doesn't have to last forever, but have some fun also. I will see y'all next week. Thanks for popping in. Don't forget to stop in at the top of this next hour and go check up our friend Mike Campbell at Hillbilly Up, and I will see y'all next time.
