When I got up yesterday morning, I had no idea what I was going to write about.

As I was making the bed, the word "Choice" popped into my head. I have no idea why, it just did. I thought, what can I say about choice? I'm not exactly sure, but here goes.

What does choice mean? The dictionary defines it this way:

the act of choosing

Well, that's real helpful, using a variation of the word to describe the word. So, what does choosing mean? The dictionary defines choose this way:

to select freely and after consideration

To select freely and after consideration. Now that's interesting. When I was at my worst with Depression, I obviously made choices, almost all of which were poor. I thought that by doing certain things I would stop being sad or discouraged. But were they actually choices by definition?

I mean, I freely selected to do certain things, thinking they would make me happy, But I don't think I really gave them much consideration.

Let me give you two examples:

Example 1

As I have mentioned before, during the summer of 2000, I became "involved" with a married co-workerwho also was suffering from Depression. I freely selected the relationship because I had found someone who was experiencing many of the same things I was going through. We "comforted" each other, although all we really did was fuel our Depression. However, I didn't give the relationship much consideration. I just jumped. A very lonely single guy spending so much time with a very attractive married woman who said she wasn't happy in her marriage! Depressed or not, not a good idea.

Example 2

A friend of mine came to me with a real estate investment opportunity in 2005. His boss and some other guys were building houses in Sebring, FL. This would be a great opportunity to do a flip. Buy a house that's being built, then re-sell it after it is finished.

Things didn't quite go that way. It turned out they had a completed house that I bought and rented it back to a buyer who was having his house built. The rent didn't cover the expenses, but I was going to sell it when the renter's house was built, right? WRONG!

The builders had a second tenant who were building a house. The rent was less than the first tenant's. But wait, the developers told me they would help with the selling costs of the house after the second tenants moved. You know the old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!"

It was, the developers bailed out of the project before it was finished, and I'm still stuck with a house whose value tanked in the real estate crash.

I freely selected to buy the house, but consideration! Don't make me laugh. Come on, I'm a CPA for God's sakes. Did I research the market? NO! Did I research the developers to see what their background was? NO! Did I go blindly into a real estate transaction because I thought it would make me feel better? YES!

What actually happened? I let myself get completely wiped out financially. No pressure, there, huh?

certainly, I made choices in these two examples. I didn't use consideration wisely. I let my Depression control me, and I didn't want to hear anything from other people because I knew these things would make me happy.

That's why it's important to have a support system if you suffer from Depression. Please, please, please, approach people you can trust. Don't be afraid! They can help you put things into perspective. You make your own choices, ultimately, but having people around you who will support you no matter what is a very healthy way to go.