September 23

I feel like  need to set the stage just a little bit for this post.  This morning I had a good run at the gym, my first "4 mile Friday."  Took my tired, sweaty self into the locker room and went for my quick weight check before my shower.  Sure enough, stiiiiillll stuck at 151, where I've been since, oh, I don't know... June??  I know, I know, I'm not REALLY dieting anymore, and I've only just started exercising more than 2-3 days per week.  But still.

Bleh.

Went into my shower, and the rest of my morning, feeling disgruntled with my body, flabby belly and aging skin and all.

But then I got to thinking about what I'd be posting tonight, what to focus my gratitude on, here at the end of the week. 

And I decided a paradigm shift was in order.

Today, I am going to dwell in some gratitude for my body.

I am grateful for this body I have, for its life and breath and vigor.  I am grateful for two strong legs that can walk and run (indeed, 4 miles, at an under-10-minute-mile pace, no less!) and climb and stretch and keep up with children.  I am grateful for two strong arms that can hold babies and children and dogs and hugs for those I love.  I am grateful for two good hands that can type and cook and draw and write, cut and tie and caress and hold other hands.  I am grateful for my healthy lungs and the steady beat of my heart and blood that flows unfettered through my veins.

These are things I take for granted. I am grateful that I am lucky enough to do that.

I am grateful for this body that has grown and birthed and nurtured two babies, that has brought two amazing little humans into this world.  This body works miracles.  This body holds life and creates and sustains and gives and it is amazing.

I am grateful for the stretch marks and unsightly bulges and new shapes and curves that seem to be a part of me now, because they remind me that this body is not just for me, it has a job to do and it is doing that job.  It is a body that has been pregnant or nursing (or both) for nearly 5 years straight, a body working on 5 short hours of sleep most nights... and still it can run in the morning. 

"Target weight" be damned.  I am grateful for the body I have, in this moment of my life, and I will choose to its beauty and its strength.