The One Thing…

…is hopefully that people can try to take away, I guess, is the relationships they have with people…when you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it? When you answer someone back how you’re doing, are you really telling the truth?…
We live in a society of social networks and twitter pages and Facebook.  That’s fine, and stuff…but we have contact with our work associates and family and friends–it seems like half the time we’re more preoccupied with our phone instead of the actual relationships we have in front of us

Brady Quinn,
Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback
Teammate of Jovan Belcher, deceased December 1 of apparent suicide

 

 

Seems like Brady Quinn is replaying the last days of his interaction with his teammate, wondering if he or others had been more attentive…would they have picked up on his distress?

Struggling with those feelings is incredibly painful for those who have known someone who has completed suicide.  Jovan Belcher’s family and friends will ask themselves questions that have no answers for a long time.  There will be times when they will be furious with him for what he’s done…and then feel guilty for it, because it feels wrong to be so enraged at someone who was in such turmoil. There will be times when they won’t know if they are coming or going with their lives, because it will all feel like such a mix-up in the aftermath of the devastation that Jovan has left behind.

But folks like Brady Quinn have a clarity that tragedy can so sharply bring into focus.  He’s rethinking his commitments, his priorities, how he demonstrates value to those important to him.  He’s asking good questions as realigning his behavior with his underlying values.

And out of that clarity, he challenges us with questions…do we invest in the relationships with those immediately in front of us?

Brady Quinn in a news conference after his teammate Jovan Belcher died speaks of preoccupation with social media which prevents noticing distress in those immediately around.

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