With it being Thanksgiving time I found myself thinking about things I'm truly thankful for. One of those things will always be music and the musicians who give them to us.

When someone says the phrase "Music saved my life," they are admitting that they were once lacking strength and THEY found that strength through music. They are telling whomever they are saying it to that they were strong enough to rise in the face of difficulty and struggle. And that my friend, is something to be proud of that.

Medically speaking, it can help with pain. When you focus on music, you can distract your brain from acknowledging pain, therefore, it helps with pain. Also, it is used for a lot of people when training for CPR. The American Heart Association advises that if you're ever in a predicament where you have to perform CPR on somebody, the beat of the classic disco track "Stayin Alive" matches the CPR rhythm of 100 chest compressions per minute. Any tune that's 100-120 beats per minute works.

Emotionally, music hits us on levels that words coming out of our mouths themselves can not. There are many times that songs I myself have even listened to a song because it described how I was feeling better than I could or told someone to listen to a song because of that same reason. Many people find that outlet in music as well.

And then there is physical, where music is used in almost every persons work out routine or to keep them active. Some like to jam out to a lot of beats and fewer lyrics while they work out, some prefer the songs that have the lyrics that really push. & of course when people dance to music! Fast, slow, doesn't matter the pace, to each their own, but music definitely can keep people active.

Whether it be medically, emotionally, or physically... music is a great thing to turn to for anyone. Whether they are happy, sad, alone, in a group, down, up... there is always a song that is going to fit a mood perfectly. & I will forever be thankful for every single artist and band that has given me songs that have gotten me through some of the worst times, and some of the best times of my life.