To Be Grateful …

What if one day you woke up and you couldn’t walk. Or it hurt to breathe? Or to eat. What changes would you make to your life?
What if it didn’t happen overnight, but rather subtly over time?  What if your mobility gradually became less and less? Sneaking up on you like a stalker in the blackness of night until suddenly one day you wake up and realize that you can’t walk, that it’s a challenge just to walk to the bathroom?
For me this scenario was arthritis. My flat feet and excessive weight from PCOS put a lot of strain on ankles that were injured already as a child. It seemed I was always twisting my ankles. At 20 years old I was already struggling to move when I got out of bed in the morning.  Now, at 47 years old there are more days than I care to admit that I can’t walk without pain killers or a cane.
Arthritis is just one form of chronic illness. There are so many others. My best friend has sarcoidosis. Her own body is turning on her. She begins every day at a pain level of about 4 or 5 and it only goes up from there. She can’t eat without pain. The very necessary act of nourishing her body brings her pain.
My mother has had COPD for years. She’s been a smoker all my life and with that brought the breathing issues. She carries oxygen to survive now. Her mobility is limited by her ability to carry thge oxygen to breathe.
Today I find myself grateful to have arthritis. I can control some of the pain and I can still move around, even if there is pain. I may struggle some days but I can get dressed and walk to a different room without a lot of effort. I can move through the pain.
I can sit down to a meal and eat not having to worry whether I will be in pain after I’ve eaten only a few bites. I have the luxury of being able to be full, even stuffed, after a meal.
I can breathe without help. it doesn’t take every bit of my energy just to move from one room to another because I don’t have the oxygen to breathe.
I am alive. I have all my senses still intact. I have a loving family and a roof over my head. I am so many reasons to be grateful. I have so many reasons to feel blessed. I take those for granted sometimes. When pain is intense I can forget that the pain is a reminder that I am ALIVE! I am still a member of the population of this wonderful planet. I still have the opportunity to live my life, to change my life, to make my life better.  I need more reminders of this.
I am still here to help others make their lives better.
Today I am grateful just to be.