I just saw on an elevator newsfeed that Robin Williams was found dead. It is suspected that he committed suicide. The first thought that came to me was that song called “The Tears of a Clown.”

I was saddened when I heard of his death. He is the last person on the face of the earth that would strike me as someone who would take his own life.

Then I remembered reading about someone else who was very popular and looked like he “had it all.” He too committed suicide.

I think about some of the people that I know. Those who are always smiling and joking around. The ones who are commonly kind and generous to others. I know that they have had times when they have considered suicide also.

I remember when I was young, how I refused to cry in front of others because they never seemed to care if I cried or not. I became an expert at plastering a smile on my face, not because I was happy, but to make them happy.

Sometimes those who seem to always be happy are the ones who are greatest at hiding their pain. With every fake smile, their pain slices deeper gashes in their heart.

It takes some effort to peel back the mask of false happiness and it is sometimes scary to find a miserable, lonely person behind that fake smile.

It takes even more work to program them into realizing that they are a worthy person even if they don’t make other people happy.

I wish that someone had made that effort in Robin Williams life.