“A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles”
(Pinterest)
Dictionary.com defines grateful as feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful.
Pretty simple concept and one to dig into a bit more. I do a lot of reading and came across a blog article titled the Top 5 Things I am Grateful For. The article and title are straight forward so I decided to try my writing chops to explore this from my perspective.
Family
Spend any amount of time with me and I will tell you about my family. My family on my mom’s side consists of 5 uncles and 4 aunts. The last time we counted I had 32 first cousins and 69 second cousins. I know that last number has gone up, but we have not counted them in a long time.
This large extended family unit allowed me to grow up in an environment where most of my early friends were family members. We did not add nonfamily friends until we started school because there were enough of us around to field our own teams in most sports.
I am grateful for having so many family members who go out of their way to look out for each other. Seems like a simple thing but we spent most Thanksgivings with this large unit and enjoyed our time together. COVID-19 put a halt on our large family get togethers last year but hopefully we can find a way to get the crew together this year—safely!
Friends
My Walk into the Future journey has allowed me to make some truly great friends. Please note, I do not let a lot of people into my inner circle, so my friends are special people to me. I have friends who are not cousins and I have known them my entire life. We stay connected and get back together whenever possible and continue to grow our friendship.
I have friends I met while in the Air Force and we have become our own family unit. I look forward to getting together and catching up whenever possible. COVID-19 has put a halt to our running tourist trips, but I am sure we will get back on track in the future. New Orleans is calling!
I met my best friend in the gym one morning as she bullied me to help her with the weights she was lifting—true story! 😊 Seriously, a simple gym conversation launched a great friendship, and we chat and catch up on life as much as possible. See you on Park Avenue!
My tree branches are all friends I look forward to catching up with. Could be a simple email, text, or phone call but love hearing how well my folks are doing in this world. I enjoy seeing them exploring life via Instagram stories and pictures they share. I live through them daily and enjoy seeing the growth of my tree. WE ARE! Go Bucks! Go Noles! Go Gators!
Running
I found running later in life but cannot imagine a world without me putting in my miles. The concept of running a half marathon was foreign to me in 2013 but now I run 6 to 8 half marathons yearly (pre-COVID). I had no intention to run another half marathon after my first attempt because it took me three full weeks to recover. Of course, I had no idea how to train, hydrate or recover properly—lessons learned the hard way! LOL.
My stated goal for 2022 is to explore my first full marathon. I am hoping COVID does not come back like 2020 and eliminates all future running events. I am always looking for motivation when I run so training for a full marathon should keep me putting in the miles for years to come. Trying to convince several friends to come race with me. Let’s go Laurens! 😊
“Running helps me maintain my ‘never killed anyone’ streak”.
(Pinterest)
Health
Happy to report I can eat and drink whatever I want. My running and weight training programs help with this, but I am blessed with good health. Running has not caused undue aches or pains and helps me maintain a healthy weight without counting calories. My weight training provides strong muscle structure to keep me moving forward. My annual physicals produce good numbers, and the doctor does not have to get onto me to eliminate anything from my diet. Grateful to continue to age well! 😊
My Blog
Started the Walk into the Future blog without a clear understanding how it would impact me. I thought I would just write a few things down and see if anyone wanted to read my words. Turns out the blog has become an extension of me and gives me a platform to share thoughts, ideas, and adventures. My writing process has slowed down as my work obligations expand but I am still able to keep 4 to 5 weeks of blog articles in my production library. I would like to get back up to 8 to 10 weeks of articles in reserve in case I need to revise or update them before publishing. Not sure how long I will continue to publish the blog but still have a ton of material to explore so hope you stay with me on this journey! 😊
Bonus: My readers
Grateful for everyone who takes the time to read my blog. Your positive affirmations always put a smile on my face and inspire me to work to produce better content weekly. Thank you for following the Walk into the Future blog! Well done!
What are YOU grateful for? I welcome your thoughts!
“The struggles ends when the gratitude begins”.
(Neale Donald Walsh)
Walk Into the Future 