Latest / The Letterbox Podcast / To The Person Wondering Why They’re Still Here | A Letter About Finding Reasons To Stay

Transcript

To The Person Wondering Why They’re Still Here | A Letter About Finding Reasons To Stay · The Letterbox Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome back to the Letterbox podcast, where real
• 0:03
  letters from real people are shared, one letter at a time.
• 0:10
  Today's letter was written by Neve and she wrote it last week
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  when she was on a flight to Newfoundland, Canada, just
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  before beginning a remarkable challenge, a solo hike of nearly
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  700 kilometres to raise money and awareness for mental health
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  charities. On the 1st of March 2024, Neve
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  attempted to take her own life. Incredibly, only five months
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  later, she completed a solo through hike of Newfoundland's
• 0:44
  East Coast Trail, raising an incredible amount of money for
• 0:48
  Canadian mental health initiatives.
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  Today, as you listen to this letter, Neve is currently on day
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  four of an even bigger challenge.
• 1:00
  She is back on the East Coast Trail, hiking there and back,
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  covering nearly 700 kilometres. Today's letter isn't actually
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  about the hike, but she wrote it about her experience with mental
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  health and has written to anybody who is questioning
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  whether they should still be here.
• 1:20
  Before I read you this letter and you learn more about Neve's
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  story, I would love for you to take a moment to just press the
• 1:29
  follow button wherever you are listening.
• 1:30
  And if you haven't already rated the podcast, that would be
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  amazing as well. And if you could think of
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  somebody in your life who you love who might like to hear this
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  letter, or perhaps more importantly, needs to hear this
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  letter, I would love for you to consider sharing it with them.
• 1:50
  And as always, if hearing other people's stories inspires you to
• 1:53
  tell one of your own, I'd love to hear from you.
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  You can find details of how to contact me in the show notes.
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  But now we're going to read newsletter.
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  For one reason or another, you're fed up with just about
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  everything. Your job, school, your family,
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  your love life, even yourself. You can't seem to do anything
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  right, and any ounce of grace for yourself is nowhere to be
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  found. You've drawn the conclusion that
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  the world would be better off if you were no longer part of it,
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  and nothing anyone says or does can change your mind.
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  I know you don't know me, but I'm asking you to trust me when
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  I say that I know you. I've been you.
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  I've woken up day after day wishing I hadn't.
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  I've gone through the motions of life and done just well enough
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  that nobody worried about me. I've also come out the other
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  side. Sometimes, even now, I find
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  myself wondering why I'm still here after everything I've been
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  through. What is my purpose?
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  What am I supposed to do with this second chance?
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  On Monday night, I knew for sure.
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  By Tuesday morning I'd already completely changed my mind.
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  By Thursday afternoon, I was convinced there was no reason at
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  all, just pure luck. I hope you'll at least try to
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  believe me when I say there isn't one specific thing that's
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  keeping you here. That's the cool part about life.
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  You get to choose your own adventure.
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  Maybe you're in a different city every week, meeting new people
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  with all kinds of stories, some similar to your own.
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  Maybe you're having those once in a lifetime experiences you
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  always dreamed about, or listening to music that makes
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  you feel grateful you're still around to hear it.
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  Maybe you're eating food that almost tastes too good to be
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  true at restaurants you've never even heard of.
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  Maybe you met someone. And by someone, I mean the
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  person who turned your world upside down.
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  The person whose eyes seem to hold your entire future and
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  everything beyond it. The person you can call when
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  your brain turns on you and you can't hold yourself together
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  alone anymore. Maybe you finally saved up
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  enough money and quit the job you hate.
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  Maybe you bought a used van from Facebook Marketplace and
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  converted it all by yourself in a friend's driveway 1 summer,
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  insisting you didn't need any help.
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  You learned everything as you went from YouTube videos posted
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  before you were even old enough to drive.
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  And now you're living life on the road.
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  A different breathtaking view every couple of days, unfamiliar
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  with trails to explore the time of your life.
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  Or maybe it's none of those things and you still have no
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  idea what you're doing. That's OK too.
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  I know you've probably put immense pressure on yourself to
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  have it all figured out by now, but the truth is that even
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  people who seem to have it together are still learning
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  every single day, just like you and me.
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  My therapist has said this to me more times than I can count.
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  But you can't see the forest through the trees.
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  You're so focused on justifying your existence, you can't enjoy
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  simply being in whatever moment you're in.
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  Maybe there's a reason, maybe there isn't.
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  Maybe you'll find it, maybe you won't.
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  Either way, you're OK. You deserve to feel safe, and if
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  nobody's told you lately, I'm so happy you're here.
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  I hope that one day you're happy to be here too.
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  For right now, put your feet on the floor.
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  Take a breath, take it one single moment at a time.
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  You've got this, all the love in the world.
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  Someone still wondering and OK with it.
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  Thank you so so much Neve. That letter was incredible and I
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  know was written with so much emotion and genuine care for
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  helping other people. We are all so excited to be
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  following along on your journey and wishing you the very, very
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  best of luck on this hike. I'll never take for granted how
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  incredible and special it is that people are so willing to
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  share their stories with me and all of you listeners.
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  We've had so many letters from people who are so brave in
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  putting out their story just in the hopes of helping someone
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  else feel less alone, and that makes the Letterbox Podcast so,
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  so special. So thank you again Neve for
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  writing in. It's been lovely to get to know
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  you and to follow you story. And for everybody listening, I
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  want you to know that this is not the last time we are going
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  to hear from Neve. Once she has completed her
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  amazing adventure, she's going to come back with another letter
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  reflecting on her journey. So if you want to follow Neve in
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  the meantime, you'll find a link to her Instagram in the show
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  notes. She's documenting every step of
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  the hike. So head over to her page not
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  only to experience the breathtaking beauty of
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  Newfoundland and the East Coast Trail, but to cheer her on and
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  support her as she takes on this extraordinary challenge in
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  support of mental health charities.
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  And make sure as well that you are following the podcast so you
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  don't miss when the next letter comes out.
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  And if hearing this today has encouraged you to your own
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  thoughts into words, I would love to read a letter from you.
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  Your letter can be about absolutely anything.
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  It just has to be something that is important to you that you
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  would like to share. If you are interested, then
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  please just send me an e-mail. The e-mail address is in the
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  show notes. And until next time, thank you
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  so much for listening to the Letterbox podcast, where every
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  letter truly reminds us that we're not as alone as we think.