gratitude – Pamela Helberg

My first Ragnar leg--1 of 3 — My first Ragnar leg–1 of 3

Hello! I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to join a group of bloggers who are writing the 50 things for which they are grateful. The trick was we had to write the list in 10 minutes (adding pictures and links came later and did not count toward the total time). I had no trouble at all coming up with so many things to be thankful for. Life is rich. I live in a beautiful place. I have a solid support network, good friends, a loving family. When times get hard, I try to remember these things. I started the list off with some of the things I repeat to myself on mornings when running is challenging–I am grateful for my body parts that all work as they should. If you’d like to join in on the gratitude blogging fun, you can find instructions at the bottom of this blog. Enjoy!

Strong legs
Healthy heart
Good lungs
Massage therapy with Kristi
Physical therapy with Clare
My regular therapy therapist
The time I have every day to run
The beautiful trails in Bellingham

Anna and Taylor
My house and home

Anna, a few years ago :) — Anna, a few more years ago

Dungeness crab
The Red Wheelbarrow writing community
My brother and his family
The opportunity to go to school, again
The road trip I took this summer
Beautiful days on the Oregon coast
The trip to Mexico this summer with my brother and niece

madeline_me_mexico — My niece and me in Salulita, Mexico

My brother and my niece, in Chacala, Mexico

Being Freshly Pressed
Writing
My writing friends
Being asked to read my friend’s memoir
Money in the bank

The Skedgers (two of us, anyway) at a write out

The Jeep
Good neighbors
The opportunity to learn, every day, about self-awareness
Creativity
The Haiku Room
The AROHO community
Being published in Beyond Belief and in Untangling the Knot
Ribbons for running
Running buddies

Bellingham Bay Marathon, Finisher Medal and 4th place ribbon (in my age group)

Some of my Ragnar team, after the Chuckanut Foot Race

Sweet computer skillz
Christmas Eve with the family
Friends from school
Marge, for letting us stay in her home this quarter
New friends
Old friends
Carpools

The labyrinth at the AROHO retreat, Ghost Ranch, NM

Ragnar Relay
Dear Sugar Radio
WiFi
Health Insurance
Going car shopping with Anna
My 401k
Books
Beer
Wicked Women Writers

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SynCRONEessence (writing group)
Coffee
Wild salmon

To join in on the fun:

If you’d like to join in, here’s how it works: set a timer for 10 minutes; timing this is critical. Once you start the timer, start your list. The goal is to write 50 things that made you happy in 2015, or 50 thing that you feel grateful for. The idea is to not think too hard; write what comes to mind in the time allotted. When the timer’s done, stop writing. If you haven’t written 50 things, that’s ok. If you have more than 50 things and still have time, keep writing; you can’t feel too happy or too grateful! When I finished my list, I took a few extra minutes to add links and photos.

To join the bloggers who have come together for this project: 1) Write your post and publish it (please copy and paste the instructions from this post, into yours) 2) Click on the link at the bottom of this post. 3) That will take you to another window, where you can past the URL to your post. 4) Follow the prompts, and your post will be added to the Blog Party List.

Please note that only blog posts that include a list of 50 (or an attempt to write 50) things that made you feel Happy or 50 things that you are Grateful for, will be included. Please don’t add a link to a post that isn’t part of this exercise.

http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=592585

In spite of the fact that I’ve pretty much spent the past year and a half getting out of bed and running 5 miles or so every morning by 9, the getting up and at ‘em doesn’t ever seem to get any easier. Neither do the miles, either, though some days are better than others.

In the past few months or so, whenever I find myself grumpy or getting cranky about, oh, any number of things—weather, aches and pains, time, lack of sleep, pick one—I try to remember to be grateful for the fact that I CAN run, that a number of forces in my life have conspired to bring me to this place where my mornings are mostly free, where I have my health, a place to live, friends with whom to run, no snakes, crocs, gators, or other poisonous or scary creatures with which to deal.

In short, life is pretty damn sweet and instead of grumbling about the minor details or petty annoyances, I need to just put one foot in front of the other and get on with my run. When it rains, I try to be grateful that we didn’t have 18 feet of snow this winter; when it’s hot, I’m grateful that it rarely gets above 75. When it snows, I’m grateful that we have so much water here in the PNW that I can have a long hot shower after my runs (present winter excluded—water rationing may be coming our way this summer).

If, on some morning I don’t feel like getting up and out there, I remind myself that for today, for this moment, I have legs and lungs and feet that all work. I have the ability to run a few miles and how much would it suck to miss my last opportunity to go for a great run? None of us know what tomorrow might bring or the next hour.

All I have to do is surf the interwebs for a few minutes to realize that life is precious and short and very difficult for so many people around the world. In some countries women can’t even run, let alone put on shorts and a tank top and drive themselves to a favorite trail. I am grateful I live in a place where I can occasionally take my freedoms for granted.

I have so much for which to be grateful—reciting my list to myself usually takes a mile or so and by then I’ve forgotten that I didn’t want to get up and out there. I’ve found my rhythm and my pace, and I’m glad to be there.