Mental Health Week: May 6-12

A few days ago, I got off my GO train into the city, almost 2 hours after I boarded it. The normal trip takes 25 minutes. The reason: our train hit a person about 2 minutes after we left the station. 

While everyone on the train was on their way to an event or activity (me a Rotary lunch) and everyone was inconvenienced, there were no complaints from anyone. While waiting for the police, fire trucks and the Coroner we were all engaged with our iPhones, books, talking pleasantly with each other and, in one case – a father was trying to entertain his 2-year-old son We all knew something more important than our own welfare had taken place.  While we were being kept well informed by the GO people, we were all oblivious to what had really happened. All we knew was a person was killed. The person sitting across from me summed it up well when he said, “My problems are small compared with the family of the person killed.” 

I got off at the first opportunity and returned home. Shortly thereafter, the magnitude of what happened started to sink in. I was clearly shaken and as the person sitting across from me put it – my problems were placed in perspective. Even though I do not know who was killed, my thoughts are with this person and his/her family.  Rest in peace.

I am sure all of us on the train have had many different thoughts and feelings as a result of this unfortunate incident. Given this is mental health week, the following quote from the Mental Health Association might be appropriate: 

“Mental health is a state of well-being, and we all have it. We might have a mental illness, and we might not. Either way, we can all feel well. We can all have good mental health. It is about having a sense of purpose, strong relationships, feeling connected to our communities, knowing who we are, coping with stress and enjoying life. And it’s never too early or too late to get there. But it’s not just about what you do for yourself, by yourself—everyone needs healthy and supportive places to work, live and learn.”   

Check in on your mental health

Until next time.

Chris Snyder