I haven’t run in two weeks because last week I had a terrible cold and did something I’ve never done before, which is rest and sip hot tea, which felt suspiciously like progress until I realized I also felt hella guilty for not running. This week I haven’t run because it’s too dark in the morning and I can’t bring myself to wear a head lamp because I’m too afraid the neighbors will think I’m an early morning burglar in a hurry or more likely just ridiculous looking.
Sooo, instead of running to blow off steam, I rediscovered the joy of gratitude lists!
Here are some things that kept me sane (?) in the last week, and I am very grateful for them.
1) Playing McDonald’s drive-thru with my 5 year old, which is this game where I sit on the front porch and she pulls up in her purple big wheel and I pretend the one cat that stares at us from the window is my manager and the other cat is preparing the food and that’s why she can’t see her, and basically we eat apples and caramel dip and everyone has a job and we’re happy. I know she can’t be having as much fun as when I was little and my dad pretended the wagon was not only a car that flipped over but also the ambulance that came to my rescue, but my game does involve caramel dip.
2) Dancing! I hadn’t danced since Prom night 1991 when one of my friends on the dance floor astutely but insensitively noted that it looked like I was doing aerobics, but last weekend I said to hell with that and swung my kid around the dance floor at oktoberfest and had so much fun I never missed the beer I wasn’t drinking. Highly recommend dancing like you just don’t care.
3) My husband, who just texted: Found a dollar in a cemetery, think it’s haunted? And no, I have no idea why he’s in a cemetery in the middle of the day or why he thinks there’s a chance that dollar isn’t haunted. Also he’s the one who pretended our one cat yelled g-g-g-ghost! as he ran out of the room suddenly like cats do, and now I can’t stop thinking about it and it always cheers me right up.
I am grateful for at least two more things, including health insurance and a car that’s still under warranty, but I don’t have any fun side-anecdotes about those. Mostly I’m grateful I have so much to be grateful for, which is really the whole point of a gratitude list.
What are you grateful for today? (You can say running, but just know you’ll make me feel a little sad and guilty, though I can always think about the g-g-ghost thing again and cheer right back up.)