Local author shares, 'A life with meaning is a life worth living'

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Author and motivational speaker, Cindy Cline has experienced suicide so closely, it would be understandable for her to live in the "dark night of the soul," as she describes suicidal despair. Yet, despite losing her beloved sister, her stepfather and two brothers-in-law to suicide over the course of her life, Cline is more convinced than ever that her message of positivity and purpose can be the difference between life and death for a person who feels that their options are gone.

"I believe in more than helping people heal during difficult circumstance—you don't just want to get to the other side, you want to thrive," Cline explains. "The key is not just getting the help we need, but going on to create a life that we want to live, so we don't find life lacking."

In conjunction with Suicide Awareness month this September, Cline will be speaking on the uplifting power of hope on Sept. 26 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Vedas MediSpa in The Woodlands. Part of Vedas MediSpa's Om Speaker Series, Cline will bring the uplifting narratives of her 25 Hope Ambassadors — people whose journeys from desperate situations to fulfillment are the heart of her book "Always Hope."

Cline's book and her message chronicle those who've gone from severe illness to abundant health, domestic violence to freedom, losing a limb to renewed success in life. She details the life of a young Cambodian man who was able to survive the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge only because he had been stricken with polio and was wheelchair bound. Despite these circumstances, he was able to come to the United States, graduate from college and thrive.

"These stories are very dire, their circumstances seem insurmountable," Cline says. "But they show that now matter how difficult your situation is, how bleak it looks, we have a triumphant spirit. Grab it and hang onto it with every ounce of your strength."

Cline wasn't always so positive. Her sister Marion, a successful actress and model, saw her fortunes abruptly change during a head-on car collision in the mountains of California. Her days filled with challenges, Marion took her life 10 years later, leaving Cindy reeling. After years of wondering, "What did I say? What could I have said? What do I wish I hadn't said?" Cline's journey led her to a truth that has guided her life: there is always hope.

Suicide is on the rise in the U.S., the 10th-leading causing of death in America in 2010, with 38,364 people taking their own life. In 2011 487,700 people were hospitalized for self-inflicted injuries. Suicide is an issue that affects Americans of all walks of life, from troubled veterans to Hollywood stars such as Lee Thompson Young (Rizzoli & Isles), to evangelical minister Rick Warren's son Matthew and victims of online bullying.

"Suicide knows no boundaries. It tries to grab onto us," Cline says. "As a society, we have to have compassion for those who've lost it for themselves. We have to believe in someone when they are unable to believe in themselves."

In Cline's life, her despair was lifted by the often coincidental meeting of her numerous Hope Ambassadors,what she calls a "divine appointment." She continues to cross paths with extraordinary people, and she's planning a sequel to "Always Hope" in the near future. In the end, Cline took her own advice, and made her life worthwhile, now driven to share these stories of incredible turnarounds with others.

"I want people to walk away empowered to create and live a rewarding, fulfilling, meaningful life," Cline says.