Giving Thanks, Day 6

I am grateful for a healthy body.

I am so thankful that I have been given the gift of health. I am aware of how tenuous that claim is...disaster could be just an hour, a day, a week away. The very fragility of health makes it even more precious to me, and I want to be grateful for it every day I can.

It rained all day Tuesday, a cold, sleety, miserable rain. I was supposed to run, but didn't feel good about sticking Ben in the stroller in that miserable weather. (I know. I need a weather cover.) When David got home, I put dinner on the table, then put on my running clothes and left. It was dark, cold, and less than two minutes out, it started to sleet. I had to think, "What on earth am I doing out here? This is ridiculous. Running is a stupid time-waster. And why do I ever say I like to run? I hate it. I can't stand it."

Many of my runs begin this way. You'd think my mindset would change after so many months/years, but there is something about Newton's First Law of Motion that fully applies to me: a body at rest (Mine) tends to stay at rest. Getting it into motion takes physical and emotional endurance.

The pouring sleet turned to snow (I tasted some of it), but after a mile and a half, it began to clear. After three miles, the clouds began to part, the crescent moon appeared through them, and a few stars began to twinkle. My body was mine again, not some obstinate other being, and I felt one with the world around me. I was full of gratitude (thank you, endorphins) for David's willingness to support my run, for my sweet family, and for the chance to run. I ended the run with a smile on my face and was able to reenter family life with more grace than I left it.