and I think to myself, what a wonderful world!

Many moons ago I was fortunate to meet a very unique individual. We met through work and her personality filled the office. I always looked forward to every visit as you left giggling every time without fail. She moved on to another job, from boats to planes, and we kept in touch through social networks. We'd comment on photos and posts but seldom had a proper chat. Years passed and the distance between us, and the majority of my friends, grew and we didn't keep in touch quite as much.

My business had grown and was successful but it took up and average of fourteen hours of every day. Friends, family and my partner all drifted away in exchange for longer hours, as I became a hamster on a wheel. Over the space of 18 months I'd be in the office on Saturday nights, sometimes I'd stay there, and the hours grew up to 120 hrs + per week! I had blinkers on and couldn't see anything was wrong with what I was doing. The few friends that had stuck around did try to comment on my "lifestyle" but I had it in my mind that the next week it would be different.

Slowly, yet quick enough for me to realise that change was occurring; I crashed and burned. Business was booming and we couldn't keep up with the work. However I couldn't get my head off the pillow or keep focus on the work. Through the space of a week or two I had financial difficulties because I couldn't keep on top of the paperwork. Orders hadn't been completed because I couldn't process them. Materials weren't being ordered because even the idea of picking up a phone made me want to run away. I needed to talk to someone but I didn't have anyone. My staff relied on me to be the "rock", my family all said "you just need to take things easier" and my friends said "we told you so". No one could see things from where I was standing, no one knew I was trapped in a tiny wee dark room and couldn't find the door.

I was in the office late one night and flicking through a social networking site when I spotted my old amigo putting up a post about her family. I clicked on to her page and started reading through her posts. Instantly I smiled. She was always so upbeat and found the good in everything. Her love for her family couldn't be greater. Her outlook on life made me smile and also made me rethink. Her glass was always half full. "I wonder what keeps her going?" I emailed her asking.

Within a couple of messages back and forward she instantly clicked and to my complete surprise she had been in the very same situation a few times. I went from feeling completely isolated to feeling like there was hope! She listened, asked questions, mulled over the answers and gave me her advice. Her advice didn't simply consist of "Take things easier" or "Take time off". Within minutes she was describing to me exactly how I felt and she hit the nail on the head every time.

It was strange. An hour before I felt completely alone. Nobody knew how I felt. I didn't know what to do. One email had sparked off a conversation which left me confident that I wasn't destined to spend the rest of my life like this.

My good friend gave me advice, which I acted on and I believe everything fell into place at the right time. Now I am gradually picking up the pieces and I feel like the world is my oyster. A feeling I've not had in many years. If one earthling out of every million was as caring and selfless as she is the world would be such a fantastic place.