When the music moves you, you have a choice.

There are times when a piece of music on the radio or television catapults me back to a time that has long since past.

Sometimes I sit and listen to the tune indulging myself in the sadness or joy it conjures up.
Other times I find myself sprinting for the off switch so I don't have to re-live those memories.

Yesterday, on BBC Radio 2,  Paul Gambaccini was doing his show, "Tracks of my years" with 1992 being one of the years on his play list.

What a mixture of mercies that brought up!

My girls and me living in a little farm cottage in Moray, alone but together, freezing but cosy, happy but sad, putting a brave face on it while playing a game I called,  "Let's be like the Victorians!"
We'd play this game whenever I ran out of credit for the electricity meter and I'd stick on the coal fire, light the candles and play board games or make jigsaws in candle light.

Not so long ago my eldest daughter (she's 29 years old now) told me she had no idea, she really thought it was us having fun...that's a relief to know!  She was only 4 years old and all sleeping in one bed, "like the Victorians" made sense to her.
I had no idea how my life would pan out, or what twists and turns it would take...none of us do.

Despite what an onlooker may have seen at that time, I knew life would get better and all would (eventually) be well.  I believe that all three of my kids have inherited the attitude of, "I might be down on my luck, but I'm not out yet" as they have all shown incredibly resilience and resourcefulness when the chips are down; I really admire that in them.

Sharing this is not meant to provoke a pity party - quite the opposite in fact.

I want to encourage you to realise the power of music, and use it for your benefit.  It can uplift you if you're in a chapter of your life that is challenging, and it can hold you down in the doldrums.

So choose your music carefully. Move and dance to the tunes you love, and avoid the music that leaves you feeling heavy and stuck.  The energy we feel when the music moves us can aid our recovery or our hold us in the belief that this is as good as it gets!

Now where's that track," Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)" by The Tragically Hip? I love that one!

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." - Plato