The message I'd been avoiding for a month (and how I finally sent it) 🐾

AI didn't fix the friendship. It just helped me find the words. Here's what happened — and the two prompts I used.

There was a message I’d been meaning to send for almost a month.

A friend. A slow drift. Something said, feelings hurt on both sides, and then silence that went on longer than either of us intended. I thought about reaching out almost every day. But every time I sat down to write something, I either said too much or too little. So I kept not sending it.

Until one Tuesday evening when I decided I was done waiting for the perfect words to arrive on their own.

🐾 · · · 🐾

What I did differently this time

Instead of staring at a blank text box, I opened ChatGPT. But I didn’t ask it to write the message right away. First I explained the whole situation — who she was to me, what had happened, what I wanted the message to do, and just as importantly, what I didn’t want it to do. I didn’t want it to be dramatic. I didn’t want it to assign blame. I just wanted to open a door.

Then I asked for a first draft.

What came back was good. Warm, the right length, the right tone. But two things needed changing. The opening line felt a little formal — not how I talk to her. And the closing felt too resolved, like it was wrapping up something that wasn’t wrapped up yet. So I rewrote the first sentence in my own words and softened the closing into a question rather than a statement.

Those two edits took about five minutes.

I sent it on a Tuesday evening. She replied Wednesday morning. One sentence: “I’ve been wanting to reach out too.”

🐾 · · · 🐾

The thing I keep coming back to

AI didn’t fix the friendship. That’s not what AI does. What it did was remove the barrier that was keeping me from starting. The right words were always there somewhere. I just needed help finding the shape of them.

Here are the two prompts I used — copy them and make them yours.

📌 Prompt 1 — The Setup (use this first)“I need help writing a personal message to [relationship]. Here is the situation: [explain what happened]. Here is what I want this message to accomplish: [your goal]. Here is what I don’t want it to do: [what to avoid]. The tone should be [warm / gentle / honest / brief]. Please write a first draft. I will edit it to sound like me before sending.”

📌 Prompt 2 — The Edit (use after you get the draft)“Here’s the draft you gave me: [paste it]. The opening line feels too [formal / stiff / generic] — rewrite just that line to sound more [natural / casual / warm]. And the closing feels too [resolved / pressuring] — soften it to feel more like an open door than a conclusion.”

🎬 Watch Sunday’s video: I walk through the whole story — the message, the prompts, both edits, and what happened after I sent it.

👉 Sunday video link

Now I’m asking you: is there a message sitting in your head right now? One you’ve been meaning to send for longer than you’d like to admit? Hit reply and tell me about it — what the message is, who it’s to, and what’s been stopping you. You don’t have to share anything you’re not comfortable sharing. But sometimes just naming it out loud is the first step. 🐾

— Debbie
AI Puppy Playbook