Grateful: My Body is a Gift

This post was done as a joint endeavor with the inimitable and beloved MizFit as our tribute to gratitude.

It seems like sometimes we fit bloggers get a bit obsessive about our bodies. (That would be the understatement of the year except that "Michael Jackson is a bit off" wins every time.) We tweak what we put into our bodies and catalog what comes out. We monitor the various ways, times and parts of it that we exercise. We love it, we restrict it, we dream about it, we punish it. We can even get obsessive about not being obsessive about it. And really, it's quite understandable. The human body is a miracle. It works like no machine ever could. When everything goes right - and the majority of the time it does - it is so seamless that I sometimes take it for granted.

Today I am all about the gratitude for my body.

My Top 5 Favorite Things About My Body
1. I have carried and birthed four children. Three were healthy, all were beautiful. Even in the death of my infant daughter, I was grateful to my body for taking care of her as best as it could and I was grateful to her body for sticking with me as long as she did.

2. I have a quick mind. When we talk about our bodies, we often neglect to think about the part that does all the thinking. I may forget some of the minutae (What Mrs. X? It was my son's pretend birthday today in Kindergarten and I forgot to bring treats for the whole class and make a poster of what a special kid he is and now he's sobbing at his desk? Um...) but I have a great memory and love for the stories in my life, the epic tales that have made it worth every minute of my time on this ride.

3. I can run fast. I'm no Olympian but I can sprint to a toddler chasing a ball into the street like you wouldn't believe. My legs have never ever failed me when I have truly needed them. They are strong and powerful and beautiful.

4. I have a great immune system. This is one of those things that you don't think about it until it isn't working. The truth is that I rarely get sick. And when I do, I recover quickly.

5. I feel everything. Sometimes it's hard living in this world when you are a very intense person but at the same time I firmly believe that that same intensity makes colors brighter, smells linger and the gentle words of a friend more meaningful. I cry a lot but I also laugh a lot and it all adds to the experience.

Reader Becky's Story

Becky, her mom and her sister

I recently came across a very inspiring entry on Reader Becky's (a.k.a. chilerocks) blog. Her mother, her sister and herself all decided to join a Master's swimming club and compete in a relay race together. Swimming was always something they had shared growing up but the years intervened and all three moved away. But swimming reunited them more than the miles could separate them and they took on this new challenge as a family. Each woman brought her own challenges to overcome. Becky recently gave birth to her second son (and incidentally has the most horrifying childbirth story I've ever heard - she had a c-section and was not numb.) Her mother recently overcame a long and difficult battle with cancer. Her younger sister is just starting the process of figuring out who she is and launching her life.


The team swam the 200m medley with Becky (that's her above) doing a beautiful butterfly. Despite their best efforts, all the other teams finished first and so Becky's sister had to do the final lap on her own. The women were undeterred in their passion for their sport and just grateful for the opportunity to do it. Becky sums up their experience by saying, "It was a fun meet and a good check on our "Someday I'd like to do that" list. Hopefully it will also motivate us to swim even more so we can do more meets." I am quite sure they will.

I hope you all had a great holiday yesterday! What are you grateful for about your body? For more ideas, head over to MizFit's and check out what she has to say!