He was hoping to be dead by Christmas. My heart sank when he told me this. We’d never met in person. He told me this over the phone about a year ago. I’ve been discouraged before, but couldn’t imagine what he must have been feeling.

He had a successful business, but he explained personal disappointments in other areas of his life piled-up, and at some point the tangle of setbacks turned into despair. And over time the unabated despair made a dive towards hopelessness. Everything grew heavy. He lost interest in moving forward. He lost interest in a tomorrow.

I listened, and urged him to see a counselor and doctor.

Sometimes we need help to get back on track. Whatever help it takes… I’m all for that.

Occasionally inspiration works. A reminder of the promise and possibility in tomorrow. And in the days after tomorrow.

Bill Murray, the comedian and Academy Award Best Actor nominee, tells the story of how a painting helped save his life, or at least got him thinking in the right direction.

It was early in his career and after a first experience acting; he walked out of the theater very disappointed with his terrible performance. 

“I wasn’t very good,” he explains. “I was so bad I just walked out on the street. And I walked for a couple hours. And I realized I’d walked the wrong direction. Not just the wrong direction in terms of where I live, but the wrong direction in terms of a desire to stay alive.”

“I ended up in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. And I just walked inside.”

Bill explains that the museum, “used to ask you for a donation,” but that he “just walked right through because I was ready to die.”

“And there’s a painting there… and I think it’s called ‘The Song of The Lark’ and it’s a woman working in a field and there’s a sunrise behind her. And, I’ve always loved this painting, and I saw it that day.”

The painting was done by the artist Jules Breton in 1884, and is of a young peasant woman in a field. She’s gazing into the distance as she listens to the songbird. The sun is just starting to rise in the background, bringing a warm glow to the field and her face.

Bill explains what he saw in the painting. “And I just thought, well look, there’s a girl who doesn’t have a lot of prospects – but the sun’s coming up anyway. And she’s got another chance at it.”

“So I think that gave me some sort of feeling that I too am a person, and get another chance every day the sun comes up.”

Don’t think about your errors or failures, otherwise you’ll never do a thing. – Bill Murray

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Tom loves building meaningful businesses and technology (with people who care). Reach him on Twitter @thomastriumph