"Come on buddy something doesnt seem right here.Come on just tell me whats wrong.Maybe I can help", was all the goading he needed. Soon the man was babbling on about how he was sick and tired of living. He was tired of all the hopes and aspirations that everyone had pinned on him and felt that the only way ot get rid of the pressure was to just end his miserable life.
I listened patiently to his whole story and blatantly asked him to die some other day.I spoke very sincerely when I said, "Hey forget the dying part.Just get away from that edge and we can go someplace to talk about whats going wrong.You dont realize it but you are wrong"
Amazed and bewildered at my blatant talk he just stared at me seeming disturbed and tense.To further calm him down I said," Listen! You can fall 80 feet if you want but just remember that it wont change anything"
Finally he surrendered himself to me as he came away form the ledge looking quite skeptical. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat with the man on a nearby bench. He told me all about his life.How he hated living such a torturous life.I heard his problems and then gave him a small pep talk about how dying wuld not change a thing.I talked to him about how I felt the same way sometimes and how i always got through it. We talked like this for about 4 hours and finally it seemed like he was satisfied.His pent up thoughts and frustrations were all out and he felt a lot better now.His body language sure seemed that way.
This event was just the first meeting.I asked this man,whose name turned out to be John, to join a rehabilitation program where he could meet so many poeple going thorugh the same phase.Although he seemed skeptical he told me that he would try.We exchanged phone numbers and then I left John to pondeer over the pros and cons of the situation.
That was sixteen years ago. Just yesterday he called me.At first I didnt recognize his voice but when he said ,"Hey its da guy who nearly jumped off the bridge" the whole thing kind of just came back to me.We decided to meet and I felt excited because I wanted to see how he was doing.
I was bedazzled when I saw him .He seemed differen somehow.Maybe it was the clean shaven face but he seemed very changed.He was smiling and looked very happy.As i observed his new found energy and spiky character I couldn believe taht this was the same guy.On further inquiry I found out that John had joined the rehab program which had literally acted as a life saver.He had met people who had the same thoughts and he had discussed all his problems with them.He had realized then that life was not worth destroying and had decided to change everything.Adopted a new strategy he had begun leading life as it came.Not wasting his mind about petty issues and trying to enjoy life and all it spleasures.He now had a family and was a multimillionaire.
We were happily discussing his life when he said,"You saved my life and i cant thank you enough for that .I will forever be indebted to you"
Hearing those words i knew that I had done something good.Something that even my grandchildren would love to hear about.Most of all he said that he had gotten over it all and I believed him now because his life seemed fantastic .Such a good natured,comical person like him deserved a chance and I am glad that I played a small part in giving him that chance to bring out the new John.
