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A year ago, I was depressed and not in a
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dramatic way or a crisis way, but in a
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quiet, heavy way. The kind where you
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still feel functional. You still show
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up, but everything just feels muted. And
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somewhere in the middle of that season,
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I had this thought, what if I just
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needed a completely different
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environment? What if the problem isn't
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me? what if it's where I'm living? And
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so we did something that felt bold,
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maybe even a little unrealistic. We
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moved to Disney World and I genuinely
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believe that it might be the answer or
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the solution to the problem that I was
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having. So, let me tell you what
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actually happened. Every year around
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January, I would just feel it coming.
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the heaviness, the 4pm darkness, the
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cabin fever, and especially the cabin
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fever. As a stay-at-home mom, I wasn't
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in crisis. I wasn't collapsing. I was
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functional, and sometimes that is harder
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to identify, but I was tired all the
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time, easily over stimulated, less
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patient, less playful, less motivated. I
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loved my husband deeply and adore
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absolutely adore my children, but I felt
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like I was moving through life under
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water. And winter season made it worse.
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Dark mornings, early sunrise, cold air
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that kept us inside. The house started
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to feel smaller every year. And I began
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noticing something that I didn't like.
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It was my tone, my reactions, how
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quickly I would say not now. And that's
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when I realized that this wasn't just
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about me. My emotional state was shaping
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our home. And I didn't want my kids
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remembering a mom who was just surviving
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half the year. That thought scared me
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more than depression itself. But
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something that was extremely evident is
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that every time we traveled somewhere
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sunny, I changed. And it was noticeable,
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even dramatic. I laughed more. I
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initiated things. I had patience again.
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I felt light. I felt joyful. I would
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wake up excited instead of bracing
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myself. And then we would get back home,
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back to gray, skies, back inside, back
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to heaviness. And one day, I asked
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myself,
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what if the problem isn't my gratitude?
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What if it's my environment? And that
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question changed everything because I
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even noticed that my mood was
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significantly better during the couple
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of summer months that we had up north,
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which was typically the months of July
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and August. June was warmer, September
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was warmer, but even four months out of
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12, it's just not enough, especially out
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of a lifetime. So,
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one year, specifically last year, I
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decided that I didn't want to do it
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again. And I told my husband and we
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moved to Disney World. And honestly,
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it worked.
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We could have moved anywhere warm. We
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knew that we wanted to be in Florida,
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but we also wanted to be near Disney
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World. There's something about Magic
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Kingdom that you just you just can't
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deny. You walk, you anticipate, you look
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up. There is this family dynamic that I
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honestly haven't seen anywhere else.
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Just families from all over the world
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across the globe, loving each other and
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their time together, kids just happy,
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parents feeling nostalgic. And then
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there's Epcot, the music water movement,
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flowers during the Flower and Garden
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Festival. They have art during the art
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festivals, the holiday festivals.
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There's always something new, something
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fun, different for the entire family.
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You can choose to relax during the day
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or shop around and eat in the evening.
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Then there's the fireworks that my
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entire family love. Animal Kingdom is
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perfect for homeschool days. I mean,
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there's water parks. Literally, Disney
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forces you to be outside. It builds
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novelty into your week and it gives your
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family shared anticipation and joy. And
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I realized that when I was there, I
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wasn't stuck in my head. I was engaged
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with my husband, with my kids, with the
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people in the world around me. I was
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meeting new people from all over the
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world. And I started imagining what it
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would be like if that wasn't just
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vacation. What if that was just a random
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Tuesday night? So, when we made this
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decision, we didn't make the decision
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emotionally. We ran the numbers. We
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talked through risks. We asked hard
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questions. But underneath all of that
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was the truth. I did not want to keep
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surviving my own life. And I didn't want
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my family carrying that weight every
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year. So, we moved. So, then came our
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first winter in Florida. In the middle
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of January, we were sitting pool aside,
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sunlight pouring into the house, windows
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open, the kids running outside. One
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evening we walked into Magic Kingdom
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just a stroll. No rides, no agenda, just
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movement. One day we went to Epcot and
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we went and we just enjoyed dinner
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watching the fireworks by the water and
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it just felt like something that I had
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not felt in years. It was intention. It
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was kind of rebellious and it was
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something that we chose, you know, and
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it was something that I knew that I
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wanted and all of a sudden I could just
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grasp it. And the fact that in that
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moment where we were enjoying something
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that we used to have to just wait month
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and month on end with heavy planning,
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the fact that we could just get up one
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day after homeschool and go do something
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like that, it was a great feeling. The
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first few months just felt like
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confirmation. Better sleep, less
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napping, playing more, creating again.
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And my husband and I started taking late
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night walks, talking longer, dreaming
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again. And the kids were outside more,
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less screen time, more laughter. We have
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done more here in Florida in the
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surrounding Disney areas in the past 4
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months than we have done in the past
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year back at our home state, maybe even
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two years. We've been outdoors a lot
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more. we've had more opportunity. It's
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just been a really great feeling. Then I
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remember thinking, okay, this worked.
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But here's the part that people don't
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actually talk about. And that is that
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location actually lifts you. Doesn't
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erase you and you still wake up as
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yourself even if you're in a different
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state. So here is the honor answer.
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Disney did not magically cure me, but
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moving de dramatically improved my
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seasonal depression. And here is why.
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First is that sunlight is just every
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single day. We can just find it and go
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out and just watch the sunset or rise.
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Two is just natural vitamin D. There's
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also daily walks outside that I've
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learned to love. Less isolation, more
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novelty, something to look forward to.
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And cabin fever disappeared because I
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didn't have to be inside anymore. I
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actually wanted to be outside. My mood
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stabilized. My energy improved. My
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patience improved. Even my creativity
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came back. It wasn't magical pixie dust.
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Instead, it was rhythm. It was light,
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intention, movement. And honestly,
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Disney just happened to be the
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environment that made that easy. It was
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a breath of fresh air that I truly
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needed in my 32 years of life. So here
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is what the entire experience has taught
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me and that is that environment shapes
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emotion more than we admit. We blame
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ourselves for not being disciplined
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enough, for not being grateful enough,
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positive enough, but sometimes we just
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haven't seen the sun in weeks or in my
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case months. Sometimes we need movement
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and sometimes we need to get out and
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actually experience the outdoors. Disney
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just so happened to bundle all of that
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together. But you don't necessarily have
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to move across the country to apply the
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principle more light, more outside time,
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shared anticipation and rhythm. It just
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is what our preferred location to do so
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was. And it definitely changed us. But
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moving to Disney World didn't just turn
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life into a fairy tale because we still
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have hard days. We still deal with
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stress. But winter nor longer feels like
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something that I have to survive and my
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family doesn't feel the emotional weight
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that I used to carry. So did it work?
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Yes. But not because Disney is magical,
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but because lights in your environment
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truly matters more than you think. And
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sometimes the bravest thing that you can
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do for your family is change what's
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around you. Whether that be the
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environment, the habits, the people
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around you, whatever it might be. If
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you've ever wondered whether a big move
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could change your mental health or felt
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the winter heaviness, then I would love
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to know has environment ever changed
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your mood. And if you're curious about
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what it is really like living near
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Disney, I have more videos coming up
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about that, too. I also have a video on
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the channel talking about what we needed
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to do to get here, the sacrifices we
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made, the process of us getting here. I
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shared our travel video and if that's
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something that you are looking forward
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to or maybe you think so then I'll have
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those videos linked down below for you.
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But also even if it's not about a move
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for you and you just need a breather, a
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breath of fresh air, someplace that's
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familyfriendly
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for the entire family, like truly
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something for everyone to enjoy, then I
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don't know. I recommend Disney World.
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That's why I love Disney World. And so
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naturally, living nearby is just going
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to naturally boost my mood. But
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surprisingly, you guys, I have to say
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that it's been about so much more than
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the parks. I actually have not gone to
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the parks as much as I thought that I
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would. That is truly surprising. I found
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joy in just going for daily walks, going
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outside and reading my devotionals or my
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books, going to the library. I found joy
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in even church on Sundays. It's so much
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different when you just can get up and
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get on a beautiful dress, take your
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family out for a nice service, and go
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have breakfast at Kiki's afterwards. You
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guys, it's just a different feeling. We
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used to wake up and it would still be
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dark outside when we are getting ready
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for church and we would have to bundle
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up and put on tights and coats and hats
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and scarves and winter boots and run up
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to the door and afterwards all we wanted
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to do is go back and get in the bed and
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go back to sleep. It just it's
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everything just feels different. I just
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wanted to get on here and share that
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with you guys. I felt like it was a
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little bit overdue.
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And again, I have more on this coming
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up, but I don't want to make this video
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too long winded. So, to answer the
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ultimate question,
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did Disney World cure my depression?
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Not necessarily Disney World,
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but moving to a sunny state where it is
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more warm and sun throughout the year
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has definitely cured my seasonal
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depression. So, if you struggle with
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seasonal depression, any sunny state
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that you love, the one that we love is
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Florida because Disney World is here and
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because of how beautiful it is here and
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we've kind of just found our groove
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after coming here for so long. But if
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it's something that you struggle with,
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just explore a few different states. I
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mean, why not? I truly think that your
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mental health, your family's health and
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dynamic, and your environment and your
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future
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is worth it. But that's going to be all
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for today's video, and I hope that you
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guys enjoyed it. If so, don't forget to
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like this video and subscribe to join
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our Disney loving family. But I'll see
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you guys in the next video. Thank

