Its been a while since I have written a blog entry. I think I was so tied up in life that it just slipped away.

Life is funny that way. Just when we think we have it figured out, something new comes along. Sometimes I hit these life patches and I shake with frustration, fear or anger. I don't want them right then. Isn't that the truth, they never come when I want them. But should they? What would life be like if we made the decisions about what came next. I know my knee jerk response is that it would be perfect, but then I think, and maybe it wouldn't.

I start to think about what makes us who we are. What builds our character? What builds perseverance? I think back in my life and those things have never come out of a good stretch. See my growth has always come out of a situation that I did not want. If everything was easy, I wouldn't be half the man I am today.

So bring it on. Let life come with every challenge it can muster up. 

Today I experienced something I never have before. I am a huge movie buff and have seen hundreds if not over a thousand movies. Tonight I went to see the new Karate Kid movie. It was amazing. The entire audience erupted in applause and cheers throughout the movie. It was amazing.

Now, what can we learn. There was one line in the movie that I won't forget. "Being still is very different than doing nothing."

Living with a mind that finds it difficult to be still, I found this so appropriate. Stillness is something that takes work and energy. Doing nothing is easy. Stillness brings peace, doing nothing causes unrest. Being still allows re-centering, do nothing makes a mind go into chaos.

So to all of you moody minds out there, work on being still. Learn how to shut the craziness out in the world off and turn inward.

One of the ways I do this is to focus on breathing. My mind tends to go crazy at night when I am trying to fall asleep. So I focus on the air coming in my nose and out my mouth. I imagine the air as though it was visible. I shut out any thoughts that interrupt my focus. After about five minutes of this and I am usually out cold. This principle is often described as mindfulness. You can use many different things. Some use music, aroma, yoga, art, photography or anything else that lets you be still.

Go see the movie, try some breathing, and be still my friends.

So which comes first?  Action or Attitude?

Many would say that attitude must come first.  That you have to want to do something before you can actually pull it off.  They would say that if you don't want to do something it is impossible to do it.

Well, I believe these folks are wrong.  I am a firm believer that action comes first.  If you need to get up earlier in the morning, you never feel like doing it.  If you want to start exercising, you have to make yourself go to the gym those first few weeks.  Anything that I have faced in life that I wanted to change required me to first just do it, the attitude will follow.  Give yourself some time to think about this.

I see a lot of folks with different mood disorders struggle with how they feel.  They let their feelings dictate their actions.  I know I have.  This makes for a very difficult life.

The other day I had reached the end of my rope.  My emotions were dictating what I was doing.  I finally listened to some of my own teaching and said enough.

See I did not change how I felt, I changed my actions.  I stopped crying and told myself that it was what it was.  I made my body act like I was over it.  The amazing thing is that the feelings and emotions followed soon after.  Don't get me wrong, I will still have flair ups, but I have the behaviors to turn to.

My friends, you have control of what you do.  You may not always be able to control how you feel, this I know all too well.  Whatever your mental illness, you still control your body.  You can pick up the phone, you can walk out of the bar, you can stop and smile at yourself, you can pray, you can do anything.

I think we get so comfortable in our situations that we choose not to act.  If we act then what comes next is new and scary and unknown.  If we stay right here, we know this pain.  It is not new at all.  

People, take the risk of seeing something new.  The mud we wallow in will always be there.  Take a chance that you might just like what you see on the other side.

So, first off accept that attitude WILL follow your actions.  Next, just do it.  Do what you need to do.  Stand up, call the friend, write the story, love yourself.

You will not be disappointed.  

We walk through our lives and bump into a number of people.  Some of them we notice, many of them we do not.  On occasion we bump to someone that impacts our lives.  Something they do leaves a mark that will never be forgotten.  Sometimes this mark is painful, others it brings a pleasure that is difficult to put in words.

There is someone who joined my blog and said some kind things.  She let me know that this is useful, and is helpful.  I in exchange went to check her blogging spot and the bump happened.  

She wrote of bubbles.  Imagining our life's memories and events being contained in the bubbles that float through the air.  If it were possible to pop the ones we no longer wanted and gently hold the ones we treasure.

I am always looking for unique ideas of ways to physically manage our minds.  She describes being in a bath tub surrounded with bubbles.  When she went to get out she popped a few and felt a bit stronger.

We walk through our lives living in our minds.  We spend countless hours in a place that can be very hostel.  These simple physical actions can help to bring us out of our mind scape.  So, DC, I thank you for this accidental friendship that has left a mark.  A good one.

And to all of you that are reading go pop some bubbles, smile at yourself in the mirror, look up and watch a few leaves fall.  Take charge and get out of your mind.  You see this is the only way we can recognize when we bump into someone that we should remember.