LiFE Award for Excellence in Suicide Prevention – the inaugural ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ (2014)

I have been reflecting on my 2014 ‘Living is for Everyone’ (LiFE) Award for Excellence in Suicide Prevention – the inaugural ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. (Presented at the National Suicide Prevention Conference, Perth, 2014). It is a phenomenal acknowledgement of 30 years of thinking, writing, research, and sheer hard work. It is all the more delightful, and meaningful, because it comes from my own peers. I am immensely honoured and grateful.
But you never achieve these things on your own.
I think one trick is to live a long time.
A second is to be partnered in life by the most loving, supportive and tolerant person I have ever met.
The third is to associate with mentors, colleagues and students who have brilliant minds and are ambitious. And I have been blessed in the extreme to find thoughtful, knowledgeable and dedicated people who have helped me to fulfill some of my dreams for suicide prevention.
My thanks go out to all of you who have worked so hard on my behalf.