--- title: Suicide - Riding Through Difficult Emotions date: 2018-11-04T14:35:16Z modified: 2023-03-07T21:36:29Z permalink: "https://mindkindmom.com/suicide-riding-through-difficult-emotions/" type: post status: publish excerpt: "" wpid: 1884 categories: - Mind, Body & Spirit tags: - Mind, Body & Spirit - Child - Healing - Parenting - Psychology - Stress featured_image: "https://i.imgur.com/wnyb1YK.jpg" featured_image_alt: Suicide – Riding Through Difficult Emotions timestamp: 2023-03-07T21:36:29Z --- I’ve loved watching Anthony Bourdain’s Food Travel shows. Those [dark bleak days](https://mindkindmom.com/wp-content/uploads/wp-mfa-exports/post/suicide-not-finding-life-meaningful.md) when alone parenting my child, struggling with depression, and hopelessness. I’d switch on the TV to watch Anthony’s **No Reservations**. My son and I would forget our worries and be lost in the fascinating world of different foods in exotic places. ![surfing Suicide Riding Difficult Emotions](https://i.imgur.com/wnyb1YK.jpg) **Understanding our emotions helps us manage and control them** We did not travel to any exotic places, but my son and I have had some fun memories of eating in small, cheap places on our travels where the food was interesting. Thanks to Anthony Bourdain he made eating even in ordinary places glamorous and exciting. ### Bourdain’s Suicide – A Personal Loss Hearing about [Anthony Bourdain’s](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html) suicide has felt like a personal loss. And that he leaves behind a young daughter makes me feel doubly sad. Couldn’t the thought of his little daughter stop him from taking this drastic step? Struggling through years of [abuse](https://mindkindmom.com/wp-content/uploads/wp-mfa-exports/post/how-covert-abuse-slowly-chips-away-your-sense-of-self.md), suicide was just a thought away. Even though I’ve never got down to it. There were times I seriously thought of doing it. But somehow I managed to ride the wave of pain to hope. Believing there is a solution down the road. And thus I have been pushing myself to overcome the waves of sadness and despair. Moreover, since becoming a [mother](https://mindkindmom.com/wp-content/uploads/wp-mfa-exports/post/my-mothers-legacy-enjoying-life-despite-cancer.md), even in my most hopeless times, the thought of my son alone was a pain that overcame every other pain. ### _Psychotherapist [Kristin Barton Cuthriell, in her book The Snowball Effect,](http://thesnowballeffect.com/2017/05/13/ride-wave-powerful-personal-growth-tool/) explains how to ride through difficult emotions_ > Emotions are temporary. They do pass. Sometimes we just need to be able to ride the wave and resist the urge to do anything at all. When an upsetting event occurs, if we can just stop for a moment, identify the emotions that we are feeling, accept them without judging them, and remind ourselves that they will pass, we may find the courage to endure them for a little while. > > In that small space between the event and your response, remind yourself to ride the wave, and you will, without a doubt, make a wiser decision about how to handle the situation. Remember, emotions make us human. We can experience our feelings and make rational decisions all at the same time. We just need to make sure that we are in a wise state of mind before we respond. Ride the wave of emotion without reacting at all. It definitely is a wave worth riding. ### Sadly the punchline of the show [No Reservations](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2056702,00.html) was: _The trip **No Reservations** takes us on is not about easy answers or giving up. It’s about seeing the world with open eyes, stepping outside your comfort zone, and taking the bitter with the sweet._ Oh, why couldn’t Bourdain believe and actually have the strength to live that maxim? ### Riding Difficult Emotions From my own experience, I can say that even though it may seem tough and hopeless. We need to learn to steady the board and surf on it. Believing that the next wave will wash you safely ashore. Believing and trusting that all is not lost even though we may be all wet and battered. At these difficult times, we need to know how to ride the wave of painful [emotions](https://mindkindmom.com/wp-content/uploads/wp-mfa-exports/post/how-meta-emotions-can-keep-you-stuck-in-the-past.md), Accepting and tolerating the emotion without jumping to a quick fix of permanently stopping it. Teaching our kids how to ride the waves of difficult times is one of the best life skills we can empower our kids with. Suicide is never the solution. Tough times don’t last but tough people do. ##### Image Source: [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/en/surfing-waves-paradise-summer-2686393/) ## Further Reading: [Dying to Be Free: A Healing Guide for Families After a Suicide](https://amzn.to/3L02xbL) – Beverly Cobain [It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand](https://amzn.to/3ZsPrrQ) – Megan Devine [Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse](https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Again-Rediscovering-Relationships-Emotional/dp/0143133314/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0143133314&pd_rd_r=ad9ea5f1-e72a-4743-b3f3-02b553e158fc&pd_rd_w=cbVOo&pd_rd_wg=8b9cf&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=81AV3YE6RMZBVCAMC8H4&psc=1&refRID=81AV3YE6RMZBVCAMC8H4&linkCode=ll1&tag=mindkind-20&linkId=6a8d850f2e1c72a5938422a33d8b826d&language=en_US) – Jackson MacKenzie [No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving The Suicide Of A Loved One](https://amzn.to/3mA32Pk) – Carla Fine [Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief](https://amzn.to/41QfOJV) – Dr. Joanne Cacciatore [It’s Grief: The Dance of Self-Discovery Through Trauma and Loss](https://amzn.to/3mzYKru) – Edy Nathan