A message from our Executive Director
At the end of our annual Caduceus Retreat last year, we were challenged by our speaker to write a letter to our future selves. I had never heard of doing this before and was intrigued. She directed us to a website that allows you to write a letter to yourself that will be delivered to you either six months or a year later. At first, I was hesitant; I had to ask myself, Do I want to be held accountable to these commitments? What if I fail? The whole point of the exercise was to force us to think about the future outcomes of the decisions we make right now. In other words, What can I do right now to make myself proud a year from now?
Once I got over my fear of failure, I began to embrace the exercise. I wrote myself a letter that I would receive by email the following year. In it I expressed a desire to be closer to my family, to reach out more and be more available, as well as other personal goals. When I receive this letter, I want all these things about myself to be true. So, I work toward my future self, not just what will make me happy in the moment.
I’ve thought about this letter a lot since that time. Writing it really helped me to distill my life’s values down to what really matters to me and work more deliberately toward those goals. It’s an exercise I plan to do each year.
What about you? What would make you proud next year? What progress do you hope to achieve?
As we look back on 2025, there is a lot to make us proud at the TMF. Our dedicated staff and volunteers helped hundreds of health professionals get the treatment, support, and advocacy they needed. We reached more than 100 people anonymously with mental health resources through our Tennessee Professional Screening Questionnaire (TN-PSQ) and we partnered with the Tennessee Pharmacy Recovery Network to bring this tool to pharmacy professionals, in addition to those we already serve. We had a successful Mental Health, Recovery, and Suicide Prevention Summit in September. Medical Director Dr. Michael Baron gave over 40 lectures to health professionals and students across the state addressing mental health, addiction, suicide prevention, proper prescribing, professionalism, burnout, and more. Our donors supported it all with their generous gifts and they are the fuel for our accomplishments and outcomes this year.
At the TMF we would like to help as many health professionals as possible next year. You can help us do that by considering the TMF in your end-of-year giving. Would you make your future self proud by making a donation to the TMF today? Any amount is appreciated. You can donate online here, or send a check to our address, found here.
Let’s make 2026 another year of proud moments!
Share your thoughts with Jennifer Rainwater at jenniferr@e-tmf.org.