As many people know, I have written a few open letters since joining Odyssey. Most (if not all) of them have been rather personal. In a sense, they were my way to comfortably communicate my feelings and emotions to the people around me.

It was easier this way.

But this week, I overheard the struggles of a lot of people. They made me think. I wondered how many people in this world are consumed by their depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and countless other mental illnesses. How many people constantly succumb to their own mind day in and day out. And that is why we are here today.

\That is why I decided to write this open letter. It is for you. So you know that, when life gets tough, you are not alone in your struggles. You have a support system around you, whether you know it or not…

To the tired soul,

I could never guess what you are going through. I mean, it would be rather impossible. I’m talking to you through a computer screen. There is no way that I could ever bring myself to fully understand your feelings and your emotions. But I feel that I still know and understand. Even if we have never met before. I know.

I want to share a brief story about how, sometimes, there are inexplicable occurrences in our lives that we have to take notice of. Now, I will say that I am not a religious person. Quite the opposite, I actually disagree with organized religion (but that is a conversation for another day).

However, I would not consider myself to be an atheist because of things like what I am about to explain to you. Recently, I was listening to my Rush playlist and one of their songs titled “Open Secrets” came on.

Let’s be real, I have listened to Rush for years. I could tell you anything you wanted to know. But, I never really paid much attention to this song. And for the first time, I sat and really absorbed the lyrics and they spoke to me in a way I could never have imagined. I want to just share these lyrics with you. The chorus says, “Well I guess we all have these feelings, we can't leave unreconciled. Some of them burned on our ceilings [and] some of them learned as a child.

The things that we're concealing, will never let us grow. Time will do its healing, you've got to let it go.”

These lyrics hit me like a brick in the face. My whole life situation was right there in about forty-five seconds of music. Now, it didn’t solve the world’s problems and make me feel fantastic. However, it gave me some sense of security. Like a best friend was telling me these things. There was an understanding. As if Neil Peart was writing about me when he penned those words.

A lot just made sense.

To me, I think of this incident and it made me realize how the past can hurt you. Life can sometimes hurt you. It will kick you and beat you. And as you struggle back to your feet it hits you with a low blow. Life is relentless and it lets you know that. Time and time again this happens. Nothing ever goes right, people around us are hospitalized and are dying, and we tell ourselves that we would rather be dead.

We ask why it couldn’t be us. Death. The second “certain” in life. (The first one being taxes, in case you were wondering.) Why should it be you instead? Why would you want to take your life because “it should be me instead?” I sometimes ask myself these questions too. I sometimes think that those around me would be better off without me.

However, when you are looking death in the face and the gruesome thought of succumbing to some eternal darkness creeps into your brain, you begin to think. You think of your family and friends. You imagine every detail of their face, their voice, their personality. It all comes flooding in.

You realize that these people care about you. You realize that their love is real. You realize that there is a reason they were put in your life. And that is more important than believing you aren’t good enough.

You know, I think a lot of people spend their life trying to figure out their purpose. We wonder too much about our reason for being here. Maybe we shouldn’t.

Maybe we don’t grow up to be doctors or lawyers or millionaires. But that is no reason to be hard on yourself. If you have made a person love or laugh or smile, then you have done something far better than any doctor, lawyer, or millionaire could ever do.

If you have made one person breathe easier because of your presence, then you have succeeded. That is your purpose. To bring light to this world. And, baby, you’re killing it!

Always,

Nick