TAMPA, Fla. — Since September is National Suicide Awareness Month, it's a good time to check in on our own mental health. If you are dealing with stress and anxiety, there is help. Some may need therapy, others may just need to refocus. A local singer and songwriter is hoping to help others refocus with a new book.
Melissa Bollea Rowe has found success as a singer-songwriter. She's worked with some of country music's biggest stars. But it wasn't an easy road.
"I'd been going through a hard time, a lot of depression, anxiety, fear. Just everything you could imagine."
But one day while she was meditating, three simple words came to her.
"The three words are God, Gratitude and Giving."
And she put that into practice every day.
"It was as things started to dramatically change in my life that I went 'whoa', there's some real power behind these ideas and these words."
It took a few years, but now she's sharing her story in her book named after the words that helped her, in hopes that they can now help others.
"In the practice of that over the years, my life changed tremendously. Because, like I said, I would replace worry, fear, anxiety with God, gratitude and giving and it was pretty phenomenal."