5 (Unusual) Things I’m Thankful For
It’s day 23 of NaBloPoMo and two days until Thanksgiving! I know we’re all thinking about what we’re thankful for, but sometimes those lists are fairly predictable: of course we’re all thankful for our health, our families, having a roof over our heads… etc. Lately a few things have come to my attention that I’m truly thankful for- and I’ll bet these won’t be on anyone else’s list. 1. My right foot. I think I’ve written plenty on this blog about my “difficult” left foot. The plantar fasciitis, the peroneal tendinitis, the shockwave treatments, the pain of stepping down first thing in the morning. Last time I was at the podiatrist, he was telling my about a patient who had plantar fasciitis in both feet at the same time. I can’t even… how did this guy get out of bed in the morning? I rely heavily on my good foot, as I can hardly put any weight on my left foot for the first several minutes. If both my feet were affected I would literally have to crawl. Ever since my doctor told me that, I’ve been marveling at how perfect my right foot is- I mean, considering everything that could go wrong. It’s working perfectly! Thank you, right foot. 2. Sidewalks We live in an incredible area for running. We have miles and miles of wide, asphalt sidewalks. I can do a three mile loop, a four mile loop, or a six mile out-and-back without ever having to run on concrete, or the street. I’ve combined loops to make a long run, and I can also run on these sidewalks almost all the way to a trail (I do have to run about .5 miles on either the street or concrete if I want to get to the trail.) I can also run on the grass next to the sidewalk if I want- I haven’t been doing that lately because I feel like my foot needs a more stable surface. Thank you, to whoever had the brilliant idea to build these sidewalks in our neighborhood. 3. My left thumb. What? Another body part??? Well, you see… around the same time my foot issues started (April of 2020) I developed “trigger thumb” in my left thumb. It’s a condition where the joint locks up and you either can’t bend it, OR, if it does bend it gets stuck in the bent position. Arg. The only treatments I know of (that work) are steroid injections or surgery, so I decided to do nothing and see what happened. Well… a year passed. How in the world, you might be wondering, did I live with that for a year? Well, I could still move my thumb towards my other fingers- I just couldn’t bend it. Some people wear splints so their thumb (or finger) doesn’t get stuck bent, but my body took care of that for me- my thumb looked like a fat little sausage. The swelling kept the thumb from bending at all. Luckily I still had my good right thumb. Texting was probably the hardest thing, but other than a lot of typos, I managed to function. Just as I was starting to think I needed to go to the doctor, my thumb started to slowly, slowly loosen up. I started doing a little “therapy” on my own, because after not bending for a year, that joint was REALLY stiff. And now… it’s totally normal. I’m in awe that I have two working thumbs! Every time I bend my left thumb, it’s a reminder that my body can heal itself. Thank you, thumb! 4. Sunshine Autumn is hard in Florida because… well, we don’t get one. Everyone else is talking about amazing weather and leaves changing, and usually it’s still in the 90s here. But now that everyone’s talking about the cold up north, I’m reminded why I live here. I need lots of sunlight to be happy. I grew up in the midwest and I’ll never forget those cold, gray days. Thank you, sun! 5. Denis Morton Ha, well he might be on a few people’s list. The Peloton app for sure is making a lot of people happy. If I had to actually leave my house to go to a yoga class, there’s no way I would be doing it every day (or at all, to be honest.) The fact that I have hundreds of classes to choose from and can do it in my bedroom, for only $12.99 a month, is crazy. But Denis deserves a special shout out. I haven’t tried all the yoga teachers, but I tried a few and when I found Denis I just stuck with him. He understands me! He understands that my hamstrings are super tight, and that my adductors have no flexibility at all. Thank you, Denis! Do you have anything unusual you’re thankful for? Anything on my list that’s also on yours? (I doubt it!) I hope everyone is having a fun and festive week!