Thoughts | Giving Thanks

Today, across the Pacific in the northern hemisphere, people travel hundreds, perhaps thousands, kilometers to gather with families and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. Usually this holiday represents for me the approach of winter, and the feared holiday season: the apotheosis of consumerism announced by the black Friday madness —as well as  the beginning of overeating and over-drinking to cope with family dysfunctionality. And of course Thanksgiving day is also about the hyperreal Thanksgiving Macy's Parade  which I am able to witness on first line, as my home is one block away. But this year while I am remote from all the above, in a faraway country, Thanksgiving day offers some moments of quiet time and reflection. 

And right today I have a major reason to be thankful: it is the first almost pain-free day in over four weeks! And the anticipated return to one of my favorite endorphins releasing activity —power walking— makes me compile a list for the many things,I am thankful for, some given for granted, until we loose them, like walking.

I am thankful for: 

• walking pain free again;  
• good health;
• inner strength which always prevails on my fragility
• a comfortable home I will return to next week
• the "angels" I always encounter in the moments when they are most needed
• a yoga practice which has been my faithful companion for several years
• using creativity and art as survival means in the most difficult situations
• finding a soft spot between a rock and hard place
  

It has been a tough year, adventuring in this research project on the other side of the planet. A research I truly believe in, which has encountered so many obstacles. I have been facing solitude and marginalization, found myself in a disability condition without a support system. Yet I was able to endure as challenges of different nature intersect my path. I am still here, pursuing something I believe in: I am not giving up is what I decided when purchasing a return flight ticket.

NAMASTE