The legendary Mike Tyson wrote in the epilogue of his internationally acclaimed successful book titled undisputed truth. He said “sometimes I wake up and I just know it’s going to be a bad day. I think that no one loves me and how I’m going to have the life I planned to have when I first started out, and then I think that I might hurt someone… I’m a bum. I can’t believe my wife is still married to me. I feel like a dog… I hate myself sometimes… my baseline normal is to destroy myself.” How worse can it be with the thoughts of giving up? From this excerpt, we can identify some negative factors – self-hate, bitterness, low self-esteem, debt, poor self-judgment, physical and emotional pain, and betrayal.

Tyson Fury took it a bit further in his 2019 autobiography titled Behind the Mask. He wrote “The speedometer hit 160mph. This was it – the end was coming, the pain would be over. The sun was shining on a perfect summer day. I had just picked up a brand-new red convertible Ferrari; I was the heavyweight champion of the world; I had a beautiful wife and family. My life should have been as good as it gets, but my soul was as black as my boots. As I came off the motorway and slowed down I just knew it was time to leave all this torture behind. Right, come on, Tyson, just get this over with. My mind was made up, it was in a place of meaninglessness. I looked at the upcoming bridge. That was the target; that was the endpoint. The Ferrari’s engine roared back into life. It would be the last sound I would hear. In a couple of seconds, my mind would be clear, devoid of all the voices that were boiling in my head. I put my foot to the floor. The end was in view. Then at the moment before I was set to crash, a voice shot into my head: No! Stop!

What made Fury to stop? These 8 important things did magic. Consider them!
1. Stop! Think about the people that are dear to you
If you are ever faced with the thought of giving up, of suicidal thoughts, of ending it all, stop and think about the people that are dear to you. Your relationships, your spouse, your kids, perhaps even your father or mother. Imagine the pain, the grief for these people when they hear the news that you called it a quit. Imagine the smile disappearing from the faces of your spouse, of your child, or your aged parent. Imagine leaving them with a life time grieve and sorrow. There must be a better alternative to suicide.

2. Reaffirm your confidence over and over.
Recall your past challenges, battles, and wars and how you surmounted them all. Remember your past victories and achievements. You who overcame and emerged victorious in those past challenges can still be victorious in your present situation.
Also, see yourself sharing your story – of how you emerged victorious and before you know it, you will be telling your story for real.

3. You are strong still
If you are depressed, if you have pain, if you have low self-esteem, it doesn’t mean that you are a weak person, a bad person or the worst person on earth. It just means that you need help.

4. Ask for help
Seek professional help from reputable organizations and individuals who specialize in mental health. Your response to “how are you?” do not always have to be “I am fine”. People who seek help are not weak, rather, they are displaying a different dimension of strength.

5. Don’t doubt yourself
Even when people around you doubt you or your capacity to spin a comeback, don’t doubt yourself. Keep believing in yourself and your capabilities, then go ahead and show the world that there is always a way out of the deepest pits of a seemingly hopeless situations. There is always hope.

6. Don’t take to drinking or use of hard drugs – it doesn’t help, rather, it worsens the situation. Don’t renounce your faith too.

7. Take things for what they are
Your relationship (past or present) with that young man or woman is not your life, it is a relationship. Your job is not your life, it is your job. That project is not your life, it is a project- not more! When you take things for what they are, it will help you not to take things too personal.

8. Ask God and trust God for help, for empowerment. People who have found themselves in very difficult situations, people who have contemplated giving up and committing suicide have written memoirs of how God came through for them when they cried out to Him asking Him for help. It is why your difficult time is not a time to renounce your faith but a time to ask Him for strength, for help, and empowerment. If God doesn’t help you, nothing else can and nothing else will work
It is a new dawn for you. You will emerge better!
Source: http://loftycentre.com.ng/2020/06/10/if-you-ever-feel-like-giving-up-consider-these-8-important-things-they-were-tyson-furys-saving-grace/

beautiful piece