What are some of your most pivotal moments in your life? (Ya, I realize "most" is rather redundant here but, bear with me.) Do you remember how you were blessed with clarity of mind, a sense of purpose & direction as a result of those pivotal moments? Were they GRAND moments or just small incidences where you suddenly think, "Huh."

Obviously I'm not going to name ALL of those moments, but here is one.

Depression sucks. (Sorry to use that vernacular - but it's entirely appropriate. For me.) Last night, I read an article about how depression feeds on itself. Isn't that SO TRUE? I knew that I had to work on it but didn't have the energy. This article (if I can find it, I'll post the link), was written by a psychotherapist who says that she challenges her patients to use their 5 senses every day. For example, go outside and look at what colors are all around. Don't just say "green leaves on the tree." Go deeper, what do you notice? What do you smell? What do you hear? What do you taste? Now, I'm not one to suggest that (this is me speaking) you go eat a maple leaf. In fact, I strongly advise NOT to. However, you ever notice that when you're filled with the sense of the beautiful outdoors, food tastes better? More complex?

"If you don't shake it up, depression really might feed on itself and get worse. You might go from staying home, to losing weight, to sleeplessness, hopelessness, and helplessness. The perfectly fabulous person you are might feel like a loser and think life not worthwhile. You do have to work at getting better. The alternative's unacceptable peeps. Not on my watch. Shake it up."

Waking up this morning, I felt like my heart beat for the first time in a couple of weeks. Some answers just came to me about what I need to do and I feel at peace with those answers. I'm going to work on it. I'm going to, "SHAKE IT UP!"