Day 17: Freedom

I once again missed posting yesterday and I will post yesterday's post today and todays post later like I have done before. Last night I was out and I was talking to a friend of mine about being thankful and we were talking about how there are many things to be thankful for and she mentioned about how we are not slaves which is so true. It got me thinking about the freedom we have here in Canada and it is something to be very thankful for!!! I am thankful to her for reminding me of this! We have freedom to say what we like (freedom of speech) and we can work to make money for ourselves (we are not slaves) and we can try to "get ahead". I think about our freedom and I think about other countries where there are so many limits on freedom of speech and other countries that still deal with slavery and we are so very blessed to live here. We can't always get what we want but most of us have what we need and I think that is huge. Some don't have what they need here and I do feel it is almost our responsibility to help those who need help but I won't get in to that here. I know many who do so much for others in need and I think they are amazing. Anyways back to the topic of this post-I wonder if I would not able to have this blog if we didn't have freedom of speech or if it would at least be censored. But I am most thankful for not living in a country where slavery is normal and I have choices and I can choose what to do with my life. Of course with freedom comes responsibility for our choices we make whether good or bad but I can live with that. :)

Day 16: Cell Phones

Hi again,
I suppose day 15 and 16 sort of go together in the sense that both are a form of technology. I have to admit that I had a rough day today and it was pretty tough to come up with something. But I knew these days would come and these are the days I need to do this even more. I am really thankful for cell phones and so often I wonder how on earth my family and I got by without them. lol I had pretty much graduated before we had our first cell phone and even internet in our home. lol That isn't even that long ago I suppose-around 10yrs give or take. No I am not completely sharing my age! lol I never leave home without my cell phone and I usually even have it with me while I am at home. It isn't even just a phone any longer-you can have internet and music and video and a camera and so on so naturally I keep it with me. But for the phone it is so nice because if I am driving and get stuck or something-I can call someone. If I am running late-I can call. If I am lost and need directions-I can call. Heck even if I fall and can't get up I can call. lol Then there is the ability to check email and facebook and twitter wherever I am when ever I want. There is a danger in that though because I feel I get too into that and I am not really present with people physically around me. But it can be handy if used correctly. I love that when the power goes out that I still have access to a phone and I am still connected to internet which is helpful to know what is going on sometimes. So that is why I am thankful for cell phones. :)

Day 15: Digital Cameras

I am quickly realizing that Wednesdays are tough days for me to post so I am thinking I need to find a way to make it possible so I am not posting twice every Thursday. Not that posting twice in one day is difficult though. :)
For the 15th day (technically yesterday) I want to talk about digital cameras. Yesterday I had my puppy Coco outside for a run and took my camera with me and captured a bunch of photos and thought how great it is to be able to do that. Cameras freeze moments in time that will last forever. Cameras can capture photos that evoke feelings of happiness and even sadness or contemplation. They share moments with people who are not able to be there for that moment in person. Our lives are filled with images captured by cameras almost everywhere we look from advertisements on bilboards to photos in magazines to our photos we took on our last vacation. For myself, I love being able to grab my camera and shoot a ton of pictures and then go through and pick the best ones. I love that I can use my camera to take photos of important events in my life that I can look back on and be reminded of those moments in my life. I love the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words because it is so true. We wouldn't have pictures without cameras unless we would paint them all by hand. lol I can't imagine doing that-can you? I also love that cameras are digital and no longer film cameras even though the film cameras had their place too. It is neat how cameras have evolved over the years and it makes me wonder what cameras will be available in even 10yrs. But aside from where cameras will be in the future, they are an amazing piece of technology that I don't think I could live without. That is why I am thankful for digital cameras.

Day 14: Ability to walk

Hi again. Today I have been thinking about how thankful I am to have legs that work and I can walk. I may not be the most graceful and I often have pain but that doesn't matter because I can walk and I am starting to be able to run again without having to worry about my back. Up until this year it was still too painful for me to run very well despite being given the go ahead by my specialist (who did my back surgeries) to do so. This summer I actually jogged again for the first time since before my first surgery back in 2007 (and not just an attempt but actual jogging!) and it was quite a thrill! Since then I have been working on slowly being able to run longer because as you can imagine, not being able to run for 3yrs has had it's toll. I was out of breath after just a few strides but now I am jogging a bit each morning with our new puppy and I am so thankful for that ability. I got to experience for a little bit what it is like to be stuck in a wheel chair and it helped me to be so much more thankful for the use of my legs. I look back to when I used to play soccer and I am no where near that point and may never be again but I don't mind. Just to be able to move around on my own is quite amazing. When you really think about how often you walk and where you walk and if you had to be in a wheel chair and needed to think about stairs and doors and wheel chair accessible buildings, being able to walk around is pretty darn amazing!

Day 13: Pain-what it has taught me

Hi again. This is something I have been wanting to post about but have been struggling with how to post about it. Just the title has had me thinking because I thought about just titling it Pain but I am not sure I am thankful for the pain and then I thought about "lessons learned through Pain" but I don't know if they are really lessons that I have learned. So I finally came up with the title I have now. This is something that I am not always thankful for because pain isn't enjoyable and I sometimes lose sight of things. But I am thankful for it. Before you make judgments that I obviously haven't been through that much to be able to be thankful for it-let me explain why I am thankful. I have lived most of my life with chronic pain and I have been through alot and I am still going through alot. It is never easy in the least bit to go through it but I have learned so much from it. The obvious reason is that it has made me stronger than I ever could be if I hadn't experienced what I have. I have realized I can deal with alot more pain than I thought I could. My tolerance for pain has definitely increased that I can handle alot more pain now than I could before. It has taught me to be thankful for the little things and how to take life one day at a time and even sometimes one hour/minute at a time because it is all I can handle. I can also relate to people that I am better equipped to help others. I can relate to people in wheel chairs because I have been there even if only for a short time. I can relate to people with chronic pain because I have been and still am there. I can relate to others who are shut in because I have been there. I can relate to others who go through undescribable pain because I have been there and thankfully no longer there. I can relate to people who suffer through depression because of the pain because I have been there. I am not trying to complain or come across as oh look at me I have been through so much-I am hoping I am coming across as showing reasons I am thankful for the pain and what it has taught me and it was never for nothing. I really wish we could learn stuff without going through the pain because it is never something I want to go through and never want others to go through either. But sometimes I remember that in the end it will help me become a better person and a stronger person and it won't last forever and it makes it a little easier to bear. I am not saying that we have to enjoy pain because I can't imagine any reason why or how anyone could but that when we go through it, we can know that it can teach us something and we are not going through it for nothing. That we shouldn't become bitter because of what we have to suffer through. We all have pain and we all suffer and some more than others and we can learn from it. I don't have any answers why there is so much pain and this is not supposed to be an answer why-I just know that we can learn from it and use it to make us better people and be thankful for what it teaches us. I am slowly learning patience through this also. I am not a patient person naturally and is something I really have to work at and going through surgeries and long recoveries has been helpful in learning patience. I am hoping that I have been able to get my thoughts across clearly. I do want to say that it seems through suffering I have found God and I think that He doesn't take away the pain but gives me strength to get through it. I don't understand this but I think that God hurts with us but maybe He knows what we can handle and He sees what we will learn from it and He allows it. I think God won't allow what we can't handle and He must step in somehow but I don't know for sure. I am only trying to grasp at understanding here and this is just my thoughts on this and understand I could be very wrong but that is what I see. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Anyways that is why I am thankful for pain-what it has taught me.

Day 12: Rawhide Chewsticks

So today's title may have you thinking what? but today it is something simple. Today our puppy Coco was entertained by one of those rawhide chewsticks and it was such a blessing because she wasn't running around chasing the cat or chewing on stuff she shouldn't. She was just laying down chewing on something she was supposed to be chewing on. lol *sigh of relief* lol It gave me some time to relax and not run after her and so I was sooooo thankful for the chewstick because it kept her happy and when she is happy and not getting into trouble, I am happy. She isn't too bad and learning fast but she is a puppy and likes to chew.... Anyways it was nice to have some down time I guess you could call it. Plus it is so much fun watching her get so much joy out of something like a chewstick. lol Not only the chewstick but how she looks at everything, she gets so excited over us and so many things that seem insignificant to me like twigs/sticks. lol  Kind of neat to watch.

Day 11: Electricity

So I missed another day and trying to make up for it again! I don't want to make excuses but we have a new puppy and she has been top priorty and she is a bit of a handful but I expected that going into this and knew what was involved. So please bear with me!
As it gets darker earlier and earlier I am really reminded how thankful I am for something that is really quite amazing when you think about it-electricity!!! Of course we use electricity for many more things than just lights but having power/electricity to make those lights work that we don't have to use candles is what made me think about it. It is so common now to just flip a switch and the light comes on and I know that I often don't even think about it and just turn lights on and off. But it is something that I really notice when the power goes out and it is dark and I am fumbling around trying to find my way! We use lights to read and to light up a room so we can see where we are walking etc. Then there is the electricity that we use to power our clocks to help us know the time and not be late, and our computers to help us with work or play, our tv to keep us entertained and up to date on what's happening in the world, and on and on. But again not everyone in the world has access to power whether because of cost or they just don't have access to it and so we should really remember to be grateful for it even when we have to pay the bill. :) lol