In this solo livestream, Brooke Cheney—owner and instructor at Great Start Shooting School and a gun owner—hosts a special edition of her "Suicide Prevention Saturday" series aired on a Sunday. She opens by emphasizing the importance of repeatedly saying the phrase "suicide prevention" to keep the issue in public consciousness. Brooke highlights that the majority of gun‑related deaths are suicides, noting a gap in public discourse that often focuses on gun violence rather than suicide prevention. She then shares a recent personal injury (a severe knee injury from jumping off a truck) as a vivid metaphor for pain and suffering, using the experience to illustrate the principle that "this too shall pass" and to caution against comparing one’s pain to another’s. The core of the talk shifts to practical help for those who encounter suicidal friends: she mentions the 211 helpline (available in Connecticut and other states) and the upcoming national 811 number, urging listeners to provide information and listen without judgment. Brooke also reflects on her own experiences with suicidal thoughts, stressing she is not a professional counselor but can offer empathy and resources. Throughout, she weaves philosophical insights from meditation and personal anecdotes, concluding with an invitation to community gatherings (including a Thanksgiving dinner) and a promise to feature guest interviews in future episodes.
Chapters
Ow. Okay, that hurt. It always does. No, it doesn't always hurt. All right, so it is Suicide Prevention Saturday on a Sunday because life does not always go according to plan. So welcome replay viewers, because you are the only ones who see the beginning of this while everyone else is being notified. We'll see who shows up on a Sunday night. For those of you never seen this before, Suicide Prevention Saturday is literally just to say those words. If every week someone reads suicide prevention, it'll at least make them think about suicide prevention, not suicide. There we go. So my name is Brooke Cheney. I am the owner instructor at a Great Start Shooting School, and I'm a gun owner, and it's important that gun owners talk about suicide prevention due to the fact that 2 But every 3 gun deaths that the media talks about gun violence, when 66% of that is suicide prevention or suicides, I'm not really sure why we don't talk more about suicide prevention when it comes to gun violence prevention. So that is why I do what I do. So pain and suffering, those are always fun topics, right? So, uh, this weekend is a good weekend for me to talk about pain and suffering. Uh, these are my new friends because on Thursday I was in a class and I jumped off my— the back of my truck and I didn't land well. And when I mean I didn't land well, it means like my— let's see if I do this right— basically the bottom of my knee went that way while the rest of the weight came down that way. It was less than spectacular. I crumple to the ground. My poor student is sitting in the truck. She's like, are you okay? I'm like, yeah, give me a minute, as I'm rolling around on the ground in pain. Um, so we finished that lesson— well, we didn't finish the lesson. She actually ended up having to clean up for me, put my guns back in the bag, bring the thing, because I got to the truck but I really couldn't walk any further than that. So, um, as it happened, I have had crutches from 2016 when I blew my Achilles. And so we got up to the house and she got me my crutches so I could get out of the car. And I called my husband. I'm like, hey, I need your help. So the rest of the day was spent at the doctor in the hospital getting MRIs and fun stuff like that. So why don't you want to compare your pain and suffering to someone else's? Well, On Friday— so I did this on Thursday. On Friday was the worst day. Friday I'm calling the doc, I'm like, is there something more you can give me for this pain? It's like I'm literally almost asking my husband for a diaper because I can't get out of the bed because it hurts so much. And depending on who you follow and stuff, there's this guy, uh, Goggins. If you know me, don't— you do. If you don't, look him up. But Mr. Goggins ran marathons with broken legs, like literally, like stress fractures and stuff, I think, in his lower leg. Um, but anyway, pain is just weakness leaving my body is not something I was believing on Friday. Uh, pain was just saying, no, don't move. However, I have a wonderful friend of mine who reminded me to never compare my pain to anyone else's. So Brooke's pain, or yeah, Brooke's pain on Wednesday was non-existent. I could walk to the bathroom without a problem and it wasn't a big deal. On Friday, it was a big event. It was like it took 10 minutes to take what, when I'm healthy, would have taken about 6, 6 steps maybe. So why, what does this have to do with suicide prevention? It's that the pain you're in— like, each time it hurt really bad, I'd have to remind myself, this too shall pass. And no matter what the level of pain is, like, just sitting or just sitting down, I could not get comfortable. My knee is blown up like a balloon, and it was, um, like no kneecap left or anything like that. It was just big and puffy. And it hurt a lot, and I couldn't sit. It was still in pain when I'm just sitting there. And that was Friday. And then on Saturday, the swelling has already gone down. I'm still resting, I'm still on crutches, but it got a little bit better. And then today it got a little bit better too. But on Friday, oh my goodness, I was ready to, like I said, get diapers because I didn't want to get out of the bed. It was horrible. But this too shall pass is one of the things that helps me get through pain and suffering. And again, just because that helps me, it doesn't mean it's going to help you, but it might, or it might give you something to think about, or it might help you talk to someone else. Because I think most of the time when people reach out to me about Suicide Prevention Saturday, it's generally, um, they want to have information on how to help a friend. I don't know if it's fortunately or unfortunately, but as of late, a lot of people have been reaching out to me about friends who are suicidal and friends who are telling them that they are suicidal, and they're not quite sure what to do with that. And 2 weeks ago, we had a lady here on the, on the show saying, yeah, I think I'm suicidal. And it's just like, okay, well, first, I am not a counselor. I have just been through suicidal thoughts for myself that that does not make me a counselor. I've been to counseling. Um, so when people are sick, you know, what can you say? What can you do? And you kind of just have to talk to the person, make sure they know there are options out there. Here in Connecticut, it's 211. Actually, the lady that was on the show, she's in— where the heck was it? I want to say Minneapolis or somewhere, but or Ohio maybe, because she said it's 211 there too, uh, where you can just talk to a counselor for free right then and there. And they have the resources to hook you up if you need to go to the hospital or talk to a counselor or something along those lines. There is supposed to be 811 coming soon, which will be a national number. So, um, think about resources. Know that there's resources out there. I think that's probably one of the better ways to help people, because if they're asking then that's a good thing. Or if they're talking to you about being suicidal, it's a good thing. I realize it's awkward and you're like, okay, because I don't know what they're going through. And that's why I'm like, don't compare someone else's pain to your own. Uh, one of the horrible jokes I realize I make is, uh, someone's like, oh, I got almond milk versus, I don't know, soy milk in my iced latte. And it's just like, that's sort of a joke of like, ugh, first world problems, right? But it's like, you don't know if they're allergic to nuts and they got soy milk, which is a bean, I think. Um, you know, it could actually be a big deal. So I think our challenge often is something that happened to you or me will affect me differently than it'll affect you. If the exact same thing, like if you jumped off the back of a truck, you just busted your knee up, you might have a healing factor of 10. Um, like animals heal super fast because our dog just got stitches on Monday. It's been a great week. So anyway, um, it's— I, I know I have friends out there, um, that would just walk around on this busted knee, and I can't. And I'm not gonna think any less of myself for being the way that I'm gonna handle my pain The thing is to make sure you understand how to handle your pain. Um, so that's it. Pain sucks. It is a challenge. Your pain is your own, and it's the only one that matters to you. And you, unfortunately or fortunately depending how you look at it, are the one who has to find what tool is going to help your pain be manageable, how you're going to go into it. Like I said, my big thing is this too shall pass. Uh, one of the things I had— I've had lots of people visiting me oddly this weekend, um, maybe because I have to sit still so I can't go anywhere. But we talked about how I will catch flies in my house and let them go versus killing them. And my girlfriend's like, that's kind of extreme as far as, you know, not doing harm to others. And I'm like, yeah, but I also suffer evil equally as hard. And if I tell you the story, I'll start crying because I just think of the story and I start to cry. So suffering is just part of life. And we don't like to cry in front of anyone else. We don't like to cry by ourselves. I get mad when I cry because I can't talk. And it takes my breath away, and I'm upset, and it's hard. But I want you to tell— I want to tell you the story because most of us are always smiling, and it's, it's not that I'm sad that I'm crying. Well, yeah, I guess it is. Um, it's I hate suffering in the world. And there's a lot of it. And the only suffering that I can contend with, that I can fix, is my own. And so I cry before you so you know that as much as I try to bring happiness and joy to people and make people's lives better, I have to work on myself while trying to help others because we learn from each other all the time. And by learning, we can talk about our experiences. And by talking about our experiences, we can find ways to connect with people. We can find ways that we are different than others, but we still get along. We can, I don't know, be connected without feeling alone, as if you're the only one suffering. Because I know there are other people in the world that would be sad over a burning frog. And that was an event that happened a long time ago, but it still makes me sad. So that's what I'm crying over, a burning frog. Um, so we have a bonfire, and one day we lit the bonfire, and sadly the frog did not get out in time. And so he, you know, crawled over the edge, and I had to have my husband take him take care of them, because I can't do that. I'm not the killer that everybody thinks that I could be, but that's a good thing, right? So anyway, pain and suffering. We all suffer over different things. Uh, if you listen to Buddha and you listen to various forms of meditation, they will talk about the stillness and letting go and the flow of things. And suffering is part of life. It is part of the human condition, and it never goes away, and it's never always gone, but it is generally temporary. So don't compare your pain to anybody else's. When someone else is in pain, ask if there's anything you can do to help them with their pain. Suggest maybe they remember that this too shall pass, no matter what it is, whether it's losing a sibling or a parent or a child. The sorrow is real, and it's okay to feel it and, you know, be sad from time to time. Just don't get stuck there. That's kind of it. So if you're in pain and suffering, this too shall pass. Nothing is permanent, not even life. But do try and stick around so you can enjoy as much of life as possible and live it to its fullest. So I think that's what I've got for you guys tonight. I'm gonna now hobble back to my bed because, you know, I made it all the way out to the living room today, so that's a small miracle. And, um, I guess that's everything. Don't compare your pain to anybody else. Suicide prevention— even just saying the words helps raise awareness that suicide prevention is a thing that people need to pay attention to. Suffering is part of life. Nobody has it easy. Nobody gets through without crying a little bit or a lot, depending on who you are. Um, everybody's got dark days and everybody's got dark weeks and months sometimes, but this too shall pass. So sorry I didn't see you guys on Saturday. It was way late by the time I realized I was missing this. And, uh, hopefully I will have an interview person for you guys next week. That's my plan, at least. We're gonna talk about, um, I don't know how to explain it, so I'll explain it next week if she comes on. All right, I don't know if y'all chatted or not because I don't see it in my feed, but if you did, I'll reply to everything once I stop recording. All right, y'all have a good night, good week. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, because I will not see you all until then. Um, I've invited anyone that I can think of. If you don't have somewhere to go to Thanksgiving, we always have too much food. Let me know. We can have— put a seat at the table for you. Bye. I always want you to click twice to end. I don't know why.
