November Gratitude Shorts, Day 7
Today I really give thanks for my health, and for that of my family.
As the kids and I sat waiting to get their flu vaccines this morning, I heard someone blow their nose. It was that thick mucus blowing that feels, at the same time, both gross and gratifying. I took a deep breath through my unobstructed nostrils and looked happily at my uninfected children.
Lately I’ve had some knee swelling and pain, probably resulting from a bike crash last month and then over-zealous running the following week. It’s slowly improving, but has taken up disproportionate space in my consciousness for a couple of weeks. This morning I forgot how my chronic back and neck pain have drastically improved. The heel pain I’ve had for the past year is 80% better since I started rolling my foot on a golf ball this week. I’m actually healthy, and improving all over the place! So why do my thoughts circle so much more around what’s wrong than what’s right? I know the teleological basis for this; it’s more of a rhetorical question.
Whenever a virus knocks me down, I appreciate my health the most. Oh, to breathe through my nose and lay flat without feeling like my head and lungs will at once collapse and explode! To move between routine activities so effortlessly, rather than like dragging a fifty ton boulder uphill through thick fog!
Muffins, croissants, cupcakes and chai lattes tempted me coyly during our post-shot cafe visit today. Thankfully, my renewed awareness of robust health strengthened my resolve to protect it, and I resisted, this time. So maybe if I practice specific gratitude for my health more often, I will make healthier life choices more easily? Can’t hurt to try!
Healing Through Connection 
Gratitude leading to self-control–I love that path!
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I admire the self-control, but the psychological and emotional benefits of croissants are well established in the literature . . .
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😜 Thanks, Jonathan! I’m sure I won’t be deprived if these healing foods forever! 😉
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Trying to appreciate my health as my nostrils are slowly closing up due to an oncoming cold… Thanks for the reminder!
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I so get this. I’ve been scary-sick with bronchitis this past week and just concentrating on being grateful for tiny comforts—Ramen noodles, my cat’s warm weight against my leg, Kleenex.
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Yikes, Sandy Sue! Hope you get better soon! 😔
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Reblogged this on Dream Big, Dream Often and commented:
This is Healing Through Connection!!
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Thank you do much for the reblog! I enjoy many of the articles you post. Thank you sharing us all with one another, you are very generous! 😊
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I would like to know how your chronic neck and back pain has improved? By the way I have run too intensity and strained my knees, but they are also better now
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Hi Maria!
I left a stressful job; that helped the neck pain a lot! And I’ve been working with a trainer to strengthen my core (glutes first, then abs), which has helped my back. 😊
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I do a lot of different exercises and strive to keep the correct upright position. As a child I had a scoliosis and that made it difficult to find the right way to stand and sit. In spite of such a defect I still think I can do a lot myself to improve. But I have a constant feeling of stiffness in the spine and neck
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I find that massage therapy and myofascial stretching help a lot, too. 😊
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Thank you Catherine for advice how I would like to get rid of the stiffness
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Best wishes to you, Maria! 😊
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That’s a good path that you are heading towards. But have cheat days once in a while so that you can satisfy your cravings. 🙂
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Thanks! Believe me, I cheat plenty! 😉
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Sounds like a good plan~maybe I’ll give that a try. This past few months I have also been plagued with painful joints and back, plus energy gone AWOL. (What’s up with that?!) When something heals I feel gratitude, too, but only briefly. Mindfulness slips out, bagels slip in, and I’m right back to where I started with unhappy sinuses and joints. As you can tell, I really relate to this post! Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for your comment, Melissa! Yes, the ongoing challenge… Never quite a destination, just a fascinating journey… 😏
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