inspirational letter to a friend

Letter

I write this letter because I want to help you. I know that things haven't always gone your way, but I want you to know that you have many great friends who are here for you. As you remember, I was in a bad position myself a couple of years ago, when my relationship fell apart and I lost my job. You remember those talks we had sitting on the deck looking out over the water? I certainly do. You were a big part of me getting my life back on track and I want to be that person for you now.

When I was out of work, and didn't think things would ever get better for me, I took a lot of long walks, and did a lot of reading. On the walks, I would think about the things I'd read, and I would think about what my friends and family were saying to me. I know how frustrating it is to take advice from people who, even though they are well-meaning, haven't walked in my shoes. So I don't want to just give you advice; I want you to be able to see for yourself how amazing you are and what greatness you give to the world.

One of the books that had the most power for me was Paolo Coelho's The Alchemist. This book tells the story of a young man following a dream. He goes on a journey and in the course of this journey he learns a lot about love, life and the truth about following one's dreams in search of treasure. I won't tell you much more other than to say that this story really had an impact on me. That theme of going on a journey in a time of trouble or crisis is a pretty universal theme – it comes up a lot in literature because it is a great allegory for life.

The allegory is really that life is a journey, not a destination, and that it is important to remember to focus on the journey itself. I look at you today and I see a great friend who has had some setbacks, and maybe feels in a rut. You're struggling with this sort of apathy – playing video games all day long, you're not exercising much anymore, and you don't seem to project any sort of confidence. The reality is that you always have to work hard in life, even if it is just working hard to better yourself. If things aren't flowing for you on one path, you need to seek out a different path. They all lead to the same place in the end, so it is important to focus on taking the right pathways.

You seem fixated on finding work in your field, but that to me is because you don't have the confidence to look at your abilities, rather than your job history. Your field is not a good one for the 21st century, and maybe it's time to start thinking about different ways to apply your skills. Go back to school and learn some new skills. Start exercising again. And end this cycle of sitting around playing video games as a substitute for real interaction and real emotion. It pains me to see you like this, but I cannot lie. The person I see now when I look at you is really me a few years ago, when I went through similarly challenging circumstances.

I definitely feel like education is where you need to focus the most. Life is a quest for knowledge – I think maybe somewhere along the way you thought you were done with school but it looks like the world had other plans for you. So this is my advice to you: you need to go back to school. This may seem daunting, and horrible, but at the end of the day you need to shift your paths. You are on an unhealthy path and it is time to start feeling good about yourself again. Learning new things is actually fun the older you get – trust me , I know it's hard but there is nothing more rewarding than reminding yourself of how great you are. I can tell you that over and over, but only when you do the things to start feeling that you're great, that you know it for yourself, will you be able to start feeling positive again. And when that happens, everything will start coming together for you again. Don't forget – you're the one who told me that, a couple of years ago, when we were sitting on the deck having one of those long talks.