Earlier this week, I posed the question, "Can writing a letter change your life?"
My personal answer? Yes.
When you write something — and mail it, post it, publish it, read it or
share it — your words have the power to change someone's day, week, month, or life. (Which, in turn, shapes your own life, too.)
You never know what kind of impact your words might have — or where "just one letter" might lead.
Here's a story that reinforces this truth, so
powerfully.
It's a story that a woman named Jean recently shared with me.
In an email (which she gave me permission to share), she told me:
Alex,
You inspired me to write a love letter to my aunt Karen, who was battling leukemia. [...] A couple months later, Karen lost the battle.
Thanks to you, I had seized the opportunity to share with her how I felt about her — before it was too
late. Karen had a conversation with her children before she died, and they asked me to officiate her funeral ceremony. It was such an honor.
As Jean reminds us: if you feel the urge to connect with someone... to write to someone... to share your feelings with someone... you must do it, and do it now. Don't hold
back.
This may sound a bit dramatic, but you know what? Life is dramatic. Short, precious, visceral, and dramatic. And as the old cliché goes, "This is not a dress rehearsal."
So, don't wait. Write the letter. Write the post. Write the book. Grab your sweetheart for a kiss, a hug, a
dance. Launch the business. Throw the party. Pop the question. Deliver advice to someone who needs you. Do whatever it is that your heart is urging you to do.
Don't wait until it's too late to say, "I love you."
-Alex
PS. This song is making me feel melty and amazing today.
PPS. Universal Letter Writing Week — a global celebration of letter writing — begins tomorrow. I'm leading a free e-course to inspire you to write 7 letters to 7
different people. If you'd like to participate, sign up here... before tomorrow. It's going to be lovely!