I'm a strong man, physically and mentally, and I'm in touch with my feelings. I'm attractive and confident and garner a lot of female interest. I eat well, meditate, exercise regularly, have friends, have a good job, am healthy, and I'm a good father.

Still, life is unbearable at times. My ex-wife is keeping my kids from me. I've been divorce raped. I've been accused by my ex-wife of beating puppies, rape, abuse, drunk driving, drug addiction, financial mismanagement, having a temper, stealing, strangling her, hitting a baby, so basically everything but murder. None of it is true, except for occasionally losing my temper during our 15 years together in purgatory.

I share this because, from the outside, I look like I have all of my shit together. It looks like I don't occasionally weep as I'm falling to sleep while missing my children and trying to recover from the carnage of divorce. It looks like I energetically bound out of bed every morning, ready to engage the world; the reality is that sometimes I barely have the strength to brush my teeth. I think, under the circumstances, contemplating suicide is rational; however, I hope, in your moments of despair, that you won't end your life. I know the feeling of inescapable pain, but, the reality is that it will get better, maybe worse too, but you can make your life better. You can change your reality and, although it may not be what you initially desired, you can create a world for yourself that you enjoy and are excited to experience.

I've been reading the writings of the stoics and I'd like to invite you to accept pain and suffering not as inescapable, but as an inevitability that can be re-framed as a challenge to grow and build yourself into the man you know you're capable of becoming. Suffering is inevitable, but how we respond is left for us to decide.

If you are suffering and contemplating suicide, please don't kill yourself or those who caused the pain. Please accept the challenge that suffering presents and work to overcome it; please message me if you need encouragement. Build the life you want: transcend the pain.