My Big Yellow Taxi

In case I haven't already mentioned it a bazillion times, I belong to the forum http://www.paxilprogress.org/ If you are on antidepressants or anti-anxiety meds, then you really should go check it out. Anywho - yesterday somebody on there mentioned a technique that her CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) therapist gave her for when the "blahs" hit. He told her to visual the bad thoughts and depression as a big, yellow taxi pulling up in front of her house. It's just sitting there. It wants you to get in and go for a ride, but her is the kicker. YOU DON'T HAVE TO ! That's right ... that damn depression taxi can sit there all day long, you don't have to get in. In fact, you can flip off the driver and tell him to take a long walk on a short pier. That is the key to all of this. YOU have the power. YOU have the control. YOU can change your life. That's one of the things that makes me yell at the antidepressant commercials (I yell at them for a lot of reasons - this is just one). They make you believe that you are helpless. That the way that you are feeling is out of your control. That you are in some ways "damaged" and that you have to have this "magic pill" to function. WRONG ! WRONG ! WRONG !

The only way to change your life is to ... um ... change your life. So this morning when the weight of my entire situation (mostly about the ginormous amout of debt that we have) was trying to crush me in my own bed, I decided to tell that depression cab driver to take a hike. I didn't lay there and dwell on how bad things were. I got up ! I got ready for my day ! I vowed to make changes that will make my life better. I have the power. I have the control. I can change my life .... and so can YOU !