Soraya

Walking For Those We’ve Lost, and Those Still Here

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. 

I’ve spent a lot of today thinking about mental health, the people in my life who have struggled, the people we’ve lost, and how much of what someone is going through can happen completely silently.

A friend recently asked me to join her in walking 20km at GLOW Up London this October to raise money for Mental Health UK, and I agreed to do it with her. 

Mental health is something I’ve been surrounded by and personally affected by for most of my life. My understanding of it goes far beyond any one condition or experience. I’ve experienced my own struggles, watched people I love navigate theirs, seen the effects across families and generations, and seen how differently those struggles can look from one person to another.

I know what it’s like to struggle quietly, but I also know what it’s like to love someone who is struggling and want desperately to support them. Mental health can affect not only the person experiencing it, but the people who love them too, sometimes in incredibly complicated and painful ways. I think there needs to be compassion and understanding for everyone involved.

Someone can be laughing, working, achieving, travelling, showing up for others and getting on with everyday life while privately fighting a battle nobody else can see. We really never know the full extent of what another person is carrying, which is why compassion, patience and understanding matter so much.

With my own ongoing physical health issues, walking 20km will be a challenge for me too. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to walk, run or hike distances like this, and my health has changed a lot since then, so I genuinely don’t know how my body is going to find it haha, but it’s a challenge that means a lot to me.

I want to use this walk not only to raise money and awareness, but also as time to reflect on and pray for the people we’ve lost, especially the family and friends I’ve personally lost, for the people I love who continue to navigate their own battles, and for anyone who may be struggling quietly.

I’ll be walking in memory of those we’ve lost, in support of those still here, and in the hope of a world with a little more compassion, understanding and willingness to listen.

To anyone who is struggling right now, every day you make it through matters. Even when it doesn’t feel like progress, even when all you managed to do was survive the day. You still made it through. I hope you give yourself the same compassion you would give to someone you love. 

If you’re able to donate, no matter how little, or even just share my fundraising page, I’d be incredibly grateful. Every bit of support means a lot.

And especially today, be kind, check in on the people you love, and remember that you never truly know what someone may be carrying behind closed doors.