The big four oh oh

   Our youngest had a teacher a few years back that, when it was nearing the end of school, would find photos that represented each day.  He would post them on the status of his Facebook page.  I looked forward to seeing him mark each day in the countdown in his most creative way.  I'm not sure who was more excited for the summer break to arrive...him, his students, or maybe even the parents.  But I loved his enthusiasm.  He was one of those teachers that you thanked heaven for, one that truly loved the subject he taught.  And I could see his passion for the subject shining through in our son.  At the end of the school year, he moved on to another job opportunity at a different school.  We were all a bit sad at his loss, but still happy to have had the opportunity to know him.  Every parent hopes for their child to have a teacher like him.  Like our son's former teacher, I decided to mark an important milestone in a similar way.  Its not the ever approaching end of the school year.  That will end in in only 39 school days.  No, today I mark my reaching four hundred miles in my journey to one thousand miles.  I don't usually walk weekends, but today was special.  I ask you...how could I not walk?  

    Its raining outside.  There was a time when I would get down and depressed looking out at the dreary weather.  All I would think of was the changes in the barometric pressure, followed by the unrelenting pain of arthritis.  I still suffer from changes in the atmospheric conditions.  I still ache from the arthritis when it rains.  It just doesn't define me.  When I look out the window at the cold damp conditions, I don't dwell on the pain.  Instead, I focus on what that rain will bring.  The grass is already greener now than it has been all year, as green as the grass we saw while in Ireland.  Beautiful... I guess you could say, the grass is not greener on the other side anymore.  It is greener right here...at home because I choose for it to be so.  

    At the end of my workout today, I went outside...and stood in the rain.  It was cool and refreshing.  Okay, sometimes my husband thinks I'm a little nutty.  Maybe so..  The doctors would probably agree with him.  But along with the obvious changes in my body, he has noticed the changes in my mood.  This new life of healthy eating and regular exercise has helped me.  Despite my injuries, and regardless of my age,  I am literally a happier person.  Today, I even played in the rain.  I haven't done that in a very long time.  I know there are others out there who have walls to climb, problems to overcome.  I want them to know its not too late, and its not too hard.  We can all learn...to open up to new experiences, look at life with the hope and wonder of a child. We can be...fearless.  Large or small, we can overcome whatever keeps us from "being all we can be".  We can be forces to be reckoned with.  So, enjoy your workout and as one of our son's other favorite teachers used to say each day as they left for home, "Make good choices".   Amazing what we can learn from teachers.  : )