During elementary school, every time I visited the office for something, I would see a poster that hung up on the wall. It was a Scholastic poster (any Canadian child knows Scholastic book orders!) and it was of a kitten hanging on to a rope. The caption included the famous words of Franklin D. Roosevelt:
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt
I suppose as a child what really enamoured me to the poster was the cute kitten, however, the saying itself held its greater message. It implies of course, that no matter our circumstances, we have the ability to hang on. That what might feel like a hopeless time in our life, still brings with it an element of hope. That if we can stay the course, tolerate what appears to be hopeless, work at simply getting through the day, we can, in fact hang on. Sometimes it will be the other people in our life that pull up on that rope, other times it is the element of time and circumstance, sometimes it is simply our own tenaciousness – most times, an element of all three. But hang on,we can.
If you are feeling hopeless or suicidal and feel that talking to someone would help, please call the Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1.888.456.4566, available 24/7 or text at 45645, available 4pm – 12 am ET.
Photo credit: http://Photo by Free To Use Sounds on Unsplash
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