This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 1499. You're an expression of greatness and stepping into the arena,

both by Adi Redzick of AdiRedzick.com, and I'm just a malloc, the guy that reads to you every single day

of the year, including weekends and holidays, to help you live a more meaningful and positive life.

Two posts today, both from Adi Redzick, so let's get right to them as we optimize your life.

You're an expression of greatness by Adi Redzick of AdiRedzick.com.

I've been silent for a few weeks because I've been grieving. A very dear friend of mine

died by suicide at the end of August, only a week after his sixtieth birthday. As you can imagine,

it came as a shock. None of us knows when the end will come or how. He was a sweet, kind,

and loving human being. He was also incredibly successful as a businessman and a community leader,

generous, creative, and bold, and beloved by many, including his partner of nearly 40 years.

But the external success didn't translate into inner peace, it never does. While there's a

world to conquer outside of us, there's also a universe within. Only when the inner universe has

come together, will the outside world do the same. My reaction to this loss was to get angry,

to shut down. That's a natural response. I also had a lot of questions, mainly why? How come I

haven't done more to help him? All this was especially jarring because only two and a half months

earlier I wrote about suicide. I also talked to him about it. We'd both been there.

He thanked me for being courageous and talking about my own experience with suicidal thoughts,

not in a million years, but I think he could ever be next. Why? Depression, as he shared in the

last letter he wrote to his partner is like a dinosaur sitting on your heart. Sometimes you've seen

no way out, he'd said. While I believe there is always a way out and I hope you do too, and we'll

seek out help should you ever need it and keep seeking it out until it arrives. I also came to

accept that my friend's life had to end this way. During his funeral service, I came to understand

...