August was, for me, one of those months where things happen that suddenly make you see your life a little bit more clearly.

I marked a milestone birthday, for one thing, which always seems like an appropriate time to take stock.

I also visited a college friend whom I hadn't seen in about 15 years when I was in New York for the gift show. It was a wake-up call, to say the least, that left me asking myself how I had managed to let this person — who had meant so much to me — move out of my life for such a long time and for no real reason other than distance.

It occurred to me that it's time for me to step up — as a friend and as a person — and maybe it's time for this business to do it too.

Everything seems so fragile right now, and we are the only ones with the power to change the trajectory of the downward spiral — so I am asking all of you to step up along with me.

We are at what feels like a turning point in this mess, and now is the time to get aggressive with your business, or the recovery may just leave you behind. My friend Randy Eller confronts this very directly in his guest column this month.

His point to retailers: This is the time for you to invest in your businesses. You have to be ready when the turnaround comes, or you are signing your own death warrant.

I also speak to vendors. Now is your time to prove to all of us that you are in this for the long term. Have you held back your product development and marketing to a point where you are sending a message of weakness? It's hard enough to get orders now anyway, but if your customers perceive that you may be in trouble ... Enough said.

To quote a line from The Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living or get busy dying."

I know which one I'm choosing. I hope you'll all get busy living along with me.