Grateful

"I should be like Jillian and tell you to suck it up."

Dearest one is helping me get through my Ten Minute Workout by keeping track of the stopwatch. Meanwhile I am belly aching about my thighs being on fire and I've only been doing the first pose for day one for 30 seconds.

I've been looking for something I could do on work days that wouldn't take a lot of time and would get my exercise in. My parents are both on diabetic meds and I don't want to follow in their footsteps. If I exercise every day it seems to help my blood sugar levels stay within normal range. The first day I miss they start going up. I only have one kidney and as diabetes is not a kidney friendly disease I am determined to keep one step ahead of it. Exercise is not the whole answer but part of it. Among other things, eating too much of certain fruits seems to affect my blood sugar levels, too. I do like cherry season but it doesn't like me!

I've been trying to figure out a morning schedule that will work for me once I start back to work next month. Getting up at 5 AM used to work fine. Then the time change happened this past spring and I just couldn't seem to get rested enough to get up that early. I'm determined to get up at 5 AM for several weeks before I go back to work and fine tune my schedule. Cutting down my exercise time on work days makes room for writing and centering prayer; two things important to my well being.

This morning I went for a walk and remembered the days when going for a walk, fine tuning a schedule or considering a work out regime were out of the question for me. I was instantly filled with gratitude. Yesterday, as I was painting our bathroom I caught myself with the brush above my head and was grateful I could do it. There was a time when lifting my arms above my head to shampoo my hair was the sum total of my ability to exert energy some days.

I am ever so grateful when I have some perspective.
Today is one of those days.


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