Last week I stumbled upon the ultimate Mettle Maker.

I read an article written by my friend Kate (Remember last year when I went to Vegas to meet other bloggers? She's a friend from there!). She posted a link saying she wrote a vulnerable piece but was incredibly proud of her work - of course I followed it and found this:

I Vowed To Kill Myself By Age 30 - My Birthday Is Next Month

I was stunned. It was raw, it was scary and most importantly it was real.

She followed the article published last week with a blog post yesterday explaining how she was planning on celebrating her 30th birthday.

She's set up an online fundraiser with a non-profit called To Write Love On Her Arms.

I love many things about this. I love that she's marking her milestone with an act of giving. I love that she's shared some facts and statistics that I was unaware of. I love that she's shared her story because I wish more people would.

I consider this the definition of Mettle. Living life. Doing the best you can. Looking for the positive - better yet, sharing the positive.

Given the fact that suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in America it pretty much means that we all know someone who has attempted or succeeding in taking their life.

I think words matter and, I think the internet can be an amazing place. I feel so proud of Kate for putting it all out there! I've donated to Kate's birthday fundraiser and thought you might like to also!

I've you'd like to support her fundraiser you can do so HERE.