Today is Gratitude Day!

Continuing my list of '100 Gratitudes', I am grateful for...

57. swings - getting on a swing always brings out the child in me! I love them - another simple pleasure. I was afraid of heights as a kid so it took me a while to drum up the courage to swing high. But eventually I was able to swing ferociously enough that it seemed like the entire swing set might pop out of the ground with the force of it all! I was also brave enough to jump from the swing - I loved that split second when I was actually flying, before my feet hit the ground.

58. my first bike - one birthday (I think it was my ninth?) I awoke to find a bike in my room. It was standing there waiting for me. Great day! :-) I loved my bike. I loved riding it to school and around the neighbourhood. And it wasn't just about the freedom it gave me; it was mostly about how grown up I felt! I was finally big enough to have my own bike, old enough to be trusted to ride off on my own. Heading off somewhere on my bike, alone, helped me to feel strong and courageous and independent for the first time in my life.

59. pianos - I played the piano for many years when I was a kid. I enjoyed it so much. Nothing beat the feeling of getting a piece of music right after practising and practising for hours on end. Playing the piano taught me discipline and the joy of accomplishment. Playing the piano taught me to love music. I really should never have given it up (but kids do dumb things sometimes!). I'd love to own a piano now and to take up playing again; to have the sound of a piano fill the house once more.

60. my one and only trophy - I won a trophy for tennis when I was eight or nine. It was for 'Most Improved' and the engraver spelt my name wrong. :-) But boy was I proud of that trophy! I can still recall the moment I received it. We'd finished our tennis training for the day and the teachers had taken us inside the tennis club room and sat us all down. They announced a few other names first and then lo and behold I heard my own name being called. I was shocked, surprised, nervous, excited, and happy all at once. I didn't consider myself a sporty person back then (i'm still not!), but I knew I'd worked hard and it was nice to be acknowledged for it. I'm grateful for my one and only trophy because winning it was a giant pat on the back, from someone outside of my immediate family. And the shy little girl I was then had obviously needed that.