when a CEO friend speaks the language of the soul.

I am, by nature, by upbringing, generous, but lately I can't be all I wish to be. I push against every sleeve of every hour and there's still not time enough, there are still people I disappoint—many people, daily, it seems to me just now.

(I do see you. I do hear you. I am sorry.)

This morning, an old friend, one of those dear CEOs I've been privileged to know, wrote to me in response to a note I'd written him. I've known this man for a very long time. He knows who I am at my best times; he has seen me at my worst. He knows what it is to have the world tug at you, deplete you; he heard depletion in my note.

He wrote this:

Fatigue causes all kinds of problems because it affects your immune system - infections, cancer, etc.  Do something - you need a fundamental change in your life.  I do not know what that is, but you might.  At some point it will become too late.  Write a letter to yourself - don't state what is wrong, say what you want.  Read it a few times and then write another one giving yourself advice of how to get what you want.  Then do it. 

I was sitting forward in my chair when the note came in. I sat back after I'd read it through. Some tension in my whole soul lifted.

Yes, I thought. I will write this letter. I will write this second letter. I will do it.

I share my friend's beautiful words with you, because there is something here for all of us.

Thank you, M.E.