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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JANUARY 2024 9 By eresa Rossetti, Resident Some years treat us kindlier than others do. The pandemic years were no fun at all! I don't know about you, but I am not getting any younger (truth be told, my birthday this year ends in one of those numbers that makes one pause and contemplate life so far). It's easy to get depressed over health issues, family drama and so many other things. While I beg anyone with depression so deep that life has become a daily struggle, I urge you to seek medical help. But for many of us, daily living can just get us down. I don't have a miracle cure for dealing with loss, medical issues, surgeries, or anything else life throws at us. But what I do know helps me is the gift of laughter. One of the wonderful things about living here is that we are surrounded by neighbors in or around our age group. I've found that talking about our aches and pains, as well as our joy in our family/grandkids/ travels/pets/and so on really helps avoid the blues. What can start out as an airing of grievances (hopefully you all know the reference - if you don't it's a Seinfeld Show episode) often turns into an acknowledgment that we all have something going on and sharing it does help. Most of us have access to quite a lot of TV stations that are showing either old classics like Lucy or newer ones such as e Big Bang eory. While many of the newer shows available are deep thinkers, there is just so much of that I can take before craving something lighter. Not into TV but you like to read? Skip a weighty tome every once in a while, and go for a silly one. Our Lodge library, or the Hemet and Riverside libraries can assist with that – so can Amazon and Barnes & Noble if you'd rather read on a reader. Last, maybe not least, there are podcasts and websites that can be or are uplifting. One of my favorites is We Rate Dogs. If you know it, you know what I mean. If you don't, check it out for a frequent smile and, as with most things in life, a tear every once in a while. And if nothing else, and you have a pup, Tell your dog I said Hi. Need a Reason to Smile?