Inspired by Ratg's blog on New Year's Day, I remembered a game that I had made up when things had gone terribly wrong for Mr. Bear and I.

When Mr. Bear got so low that he contemplated suicide, I knew I had to find things to support him, to help lift him out of the gloom that had taken over our lives. When he told me about his thoughts, it sent me down the same path.

Although I had put up with his bad moods and fierce temper, and also knew that there was depression in his family, when he actually put into words about how bad he felt, it sent me over the edge. We visited our GP together, starting on the road to recovery.

On the radio, I heard someone talk about making yourself get out of a rut by getting up and doing things together! Sometimes it was hard to be happy in front of our Little Bear, but as she was quite young then, this game was fun for her.

The game: no matter how small the 'thing' was, my husband, daughter and I wrote down ten 'things' we would like to have a go at. We each wrote on different coloured paper so everyone's idea had a chance.

I cut the lists up, folded the pieces of paper and put them in a bag. Each weekend, I took one paper from each colour and placed them in a triangle around a small cuddly toy, (which happened to be a rabbit) and let our daughter spin 'The Rabbit of Destiny'! Whichever, piece of paper was closest to the rabbits' ears was the winner and we would be excited to open the paper up to see what we would be doing over the weekend. (The other two folded papers went back into a bag to be re-used.)

We didn't have loads of money but what was great was that many of the things we'd written down were free! Making things together; baking, sticking and gluing or painting pictures, playing games; others were simply walking - to feed the ducks at our local park - or things that did cost, such as the cinema, bowling, renting a dvd, or driving to the seaside and having fish and chips and a play on the beach.

To be honest, there were things I know neither Mr Bear nor I wanted to do, but it made us try harder for each other's sake and for Little Bear's sake too. It made us see that some of the simpler things in life were there for us to just do, together.

What I liked about Ratg's blog was the simplicity of the Jar of Hearts (as I now call it!) which is also what I loved about 'The Rabbit of Destiny' game...and actually, you can play this even if you are on your own...just write down a list of ten, twenty, or fifty things you would like to do and put them in a Jar or an Envelope of Destiny....dip your hand in and pluck one out each week and just do it!

What might be on your list?

Love and Bear hugs xxx

Bearofliddlebrain

A Moodscope member.

P.S. No Rabbits were hurt during this game!

P.P.S. It doesn't even have to be a rabbit!