“What happens when you open the box and hope isn’t there?”
In Greek mythology, Zeus created Pandora and sent her down to Earth with a box, which she was not supposed to open. But she did open the box, and sickness, death, and other evils were released into the world. Pandora quickly closed the box, but the only thing left was Hope. Imagine that someone you are trying to prevent from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge brings up the story of Pandora’s box, and then asks you this chilling question: “What happens when you open the box and hope isn’t there?”
I want to share with you this 14-minute video of a powerful TED talk about suicide by a police sergeant whose job included patrolling the southern end of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and speaking to people who were poised to jump from it. He gives a powerful piece of advice to those of us who may have to speak with someone who is considering suicide:
“… it’s not just the talking that you do, but the listening. Listen to understand. Don’t argue, blame, or tell the person you know how they feel, because you probably don’t. By just being there, you may just be the turning point that they need.”
Note: In the top right corner of the video player below are icons (as shown in the image below) to expand the video to full screen and to unmute the audio.
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