Keeps me out of depression.

I wonder if I've ever been in depression. Maybe not. Oh, I've felt down. Down in the dumps. Sad. In sorrow. In grief. But I don't know that I've been in depression. I've never felt hopeless, I guess. I've always wanted to live. For another day. I've felt like withdrawing from the world. And living in my cocoon. In solitude. But the point is, I've always wanted to live. And certainly in the last 40 years or so, I've wanted to love, too. Love someone. Not just my self. So maybe it's a little difficult for me to understand someone in depression. Almost constant depression. I'm too much in love with life to feel low for a long time. Maybe for a day or two. A week at the most. And then I lift myself up. Because I revere life. Despite the pitfalls. I don't like much of what I see going on in the world. The bloodshed. The violence. The inability of so many people to fall in love. But still, I cherish so many blessings. Not the least being to feel the pleasure of love. Even if it's directed almost entirely at one other. That's a mighty nice consolation of life. Keeps me out of depression. --Jim Broede