The reason that it is fundamental to consider the history of this topic of suicide is that we live in a world, which for most people is fragmented, and shifting away from secure and complacent lives, if we ever had them. Economic predictions and social upheaval are causing unrest and as a result people are taking their lives from the age of pre-teens and young adults to ages of much older people. Many armed services related suicides are destroying family life in the country. Young people are losing hope because of pressures to perform and fulfill ambitions. The impact of these events on the lives of family members and those left wondering what went wrong are escalating. One in six people will have a family member who has either contemplated suicide or ended his or her life. The impact for the entire nation is made even more poignant by the measure of the number of people who feel that this is acceptable to end the pain and burden of their suffering.

We must talk about the matter and we must correct the underlying reasons that so many of us are left without hope. The root cause of suicidal obsession is an absence of spiritual interconnection. It is much harder to kill yourself when you see your presence in a community as a vital element. It is unnecessary to seek a solution that is extreme when you see that people near to you regard you with integrity and authentic value.

The problem that we see before us is that many people have given up relating to anyone and view their lives as though no one else feels this way. How can anyone cut through the veil that shrouds one's spirit? It is irrevocable as long as we do not take the time to sit down and relax; to care earnestly about the other person and remember what we are doing is connected. A father came home to give his son a compliment that he was proud of him and that he was a valued person in his life. His son broke down in tears and took his father to his room where he had written a suicide note and said that he did not realize how much he meant to his father because his father was occupied with his work and seldom had time to be with him, and show him that he cared about his pursuits.

It is a practice that I have added to presentations, which I now ask you reading this: take time to go to someone who has made a vital impact in your life and acknowledge the gift. When you share the reasons and explain how much the person means ask the person to tell someone that is vital to them what importance the person has had in their life.

Given that it is a critical moment in our lives we never realize the profound difference that this will make everywhere. No social ill can be overcome without each other; no one can be sustained without spiritual sustenance. It is a time of change and we must seize this opportunity to make one small difference with each person we touch.