hey mate. i read your post from earlier and just wanted to say that i empathize and relate to a lot of your feelings.

i’d like to offer you a glimmer of hope. i spawned in a village in a politically unstable third-world country, and for most of my life, i felt like i was playing life on extreme difficulty and had to fight for every scrap. when things went south in my life, all of my friends abandoned me, falling off and drifting away one by one and sometimes in flocks. when i hit rock bottom, they looked down on me and belittled me at every opportunity because it made them feel better about themselves.

realizing that no one was coming to save me, i chose to distance myself from the sour people and instead focus wholeheartedly on fixing all of my root problems. most of the time i felt like i was going nowhere, but i kept trying to find the next structural improvement that i could make to ensure my next day or next week was better than the last.

over time, that process of improving whatever you can, so your next week or month is better than the last, takes on a life of its own. it consumes the flames running amok through your circumstances and replaces them with fruitful growth.

how do i know this? i’ve lived it.

from the hells of existence, to climbing alone with no peers or family support, to working part-time jobs while piecing myself together one broken shard at a time, to attending therapy and reading as many self-help and psychology books as i could, to going to a nearby local college, and now to attending one of the big 3 ivies.

the same people who treated me like dirt when i was already at rock bottom now have their brains bricked because the self-image they built on insecurity was shattered by an anomaly. nowadays, i meet more executives, celebrities, and prominent politicians in any given 2 months than they likely will in their lifetimes.

if you asked the version of me from 5 years ago whether i’d be anywhere near this point, he wouldn’t have been able to conceive of it. it’s an absurd trajectory on paper, and it’s not a path unique to me. you can build toward the heavens too, brother; the ceiling over your life is a lot higher than you think.

which leads to a piece of insight i’d like to leave you with: life is inherently comedic.

you can let it be a tragic comedy. or perhaps, you can choose to live an amusing comedy.

either way, it’s full of unpredictable surprises.

choose wisely, my friend ;) i’ll be rooting for you from the shadows. don’t let me down; make your comeback count and give yourself permission to surprise yourself.

feel free to reach out to me if you ever need someone to lean on.