When life knocks you down do you have to stay down? Do you have to believe that your whole life is going to be hard just because bad things have happened in the past? Or because of what someone else has said about who they think you are?? In Shanti’s new CD, Fade to Red, she reminds us that whatever rocks have been thrown at us in the past, don’t have to knock us off our path. By acknowledging these rocks as challenges, they can, instead, be the rocks we use to build the path to our dreams. We can learn from those hits and choose the right person; choose to be loved; choose to have a better life- better than what we have had or what our family has had. For example, as in the featured song, “AyAyAy”, sometimes we find ourselves in a relationship where we are so into someone that we will do anything for them- things that we would NEVER normally do. We slowly start to get that that someone doesn’t care about us and they may even know that they have done wrong to us, but they don’t want to admit it, as she talks about in the song “Three”. And when we confront them, we begin to realize that we have been used. Even still, what we feel with that person can feel so strong, that it clouds us, making us feel “addicted” to them. Even when we know that that person is wrong for us, we debate it, and try to make it feel right, as she notes in the song, “Down”. Life is a journey full of hard choices and hits in the head. Shanti reminds us to face your struggles and use the rocks to build us up, not to break us down. We have the power to choose something better. Take a step forward to recognize what is best for you, choosing who you are at every moment, and at every hit. This reminder to face each struggle head on and to choose your life, is Shanti’s gift to you.