Again – multiple stories happening…trends emerging from them that show a thread – that hopefully I’ll be able to articulate well here & on the slides.
1st we had the announcement that Colts CB Isiah Rodgers was going to be punished by the NFL for gambling multiple times on his OWN team. This comes after Calvin Ridley of the Falcons being penalized for gambling, & then 4 Lions players & 1 Commander player.
Then we had the NBA announce that Ja Morant was going to be HEAVILY suspended by the league for flashing a g()n in IG Live videos 2x.
Are all these instances deserving of some form of suspension/punishment? Sure. But are they things that the players clearly knew were wrong & did anyway? Yes. So is it just “selfish rich athletes who think they’re above the law”?…or are other things at play that lead to these behaviors even KNOWING the consequences? If so (even if a chance if so) why are the leagues only talking abt the penalties, instead of getting these guys help?
When we’re in emotional pain from our past experiences – we’ll turn to almost ANYTHING to get out of it…even w hefty consequence. As humans we’re wired to – avoid pain.
So I’m reviewing the stories of our next 2 LIFESaver fams (slides➡️): 1 of Greg, brother of @m_tothethird lost at 55, & 1 Jack, son of @kreneemorrison lost at only 19. In BOTH cases, very diff ages, guys who’d been OPEN abt major suicidal ideations to their fam…& didn’t WANT to die, who we lost anyway. In BOTH cases, families who said the ideations must’ve gotten the best of them & overpowered them in a brief moment.
Why bring up the sports stories & the LIFESaver ones, together? The commonality of emotional pain making us do things we don’t WANT to do. No, suicide is not the same as gambling. But the commonality is – our system’s wired to avoid pain at all costs – sometimes regardless of the consequences.
Let’s stop JUST damning ppl for “choices.” In many suicides I dont believe there was choice. Just an overwhelming of the system where error msgs arose. And even in cases like the athletes – can we consider WHERE the actions come from? What pain? Instead of only damning?