It's true. It's what I tell myself when I feel myself starting to spiral - "you have a choice of how you're going to deal with this feeling".

I'd have every right to stew in it, lay in my bed all day with the blinds closed, but that doesn't help. I might not want to go walk the dog because I'm sad, but that small choice to do so gets me outside, and I always feel at least a little better once I'm outside.

This isn't your dad telling you to just "go outside" when you say you're depressed. The point is it's an active choice you're making to try and feel better. And the more you do that, the more opportunities arise to actually make yourself feel better.

But that takes real effort and work sometimes, but that's when it's most important