Grateful 43 – Things I Used to Do

There are things I used to do and for various reasons, no longer do. I want to look back and express gratitude for what these things meant.

I am grateful 4 3 things I used to do. . . .

ONE. Ride my Bike. From 5-16 years old, riding a bike was important. It was social, play time, imaginative, and a way to get around.

• I still remember the knee scrapes, bashing into parked cars because I couldn’t figure out the brakes and getting tangled in chain link fences for the same reason.
• I remember fracturing 3 ribs because I transported (incorrectly) my brother on the handle bars going DOWN a steep hill.
• In one neighborhood the local kids and I used to pretend our bikes were horses and of course we’d jump onto the bikes like we saw cowboys jumping onto horses. One time I was so energetic that I jumped over the “horse” and bruised my tail bone once I landed on the concrete “grass.”
• I had a paper route when I lived in Texas.  My bike was the delivery vehicle.

I no longer ride a bike, but I am grateful for the many things I was able to do because of it.

TWO. Sing with a group. I do not have a great voice. But it was always ok enough to be part of a group. Singing with a group brought pride for a job well done, camaraderie because of all the time spent together practicing and touring, and the joy of performing beautiful and often challenging songs.

• My first choir was in elementary school. I still remember being part of The Sound of Music. I was a nobody but I sure enjoyed dressing as an Austrian girl singing along with the other nobodies in the choir.
• In middle school I moved to Puerto Rico. I joined the choir because I LOVE to sing and so that I could meet others. I still remember some of the songs we learned, “Silkie,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” and “Stewball.”
• I also performed with a choir in my adult years at two different churches. In addition to the above gratitude reasons, I was grateful that I got to practice songs that had theological truths. I sang them so much, that these truths went way deep into my thinking and impacted my lifestyle.

THREE. Ice Skate. I am not naturally athletic, but there are some things everyone can learn to do with enough practice. Skating (on the sidewalk and ice) is one of those things.

• I learned to ice skate when my family moved to Anchorage, Alaska when I was 7-years-old. There was a pond at my school and so of course in the winter it froze and we’d skate at recess and at lunch time.
• Through the years I’ve skated at indoor rinks, frozen lakes and even a homemade rink my siblings and I made when we lived in Canada.

I am grateful for being able to experience gliding/unhindered motion, a sense of accomplishment, and fun. I even made sure that my kiddos learned how to skate so that they too could be exposed to the awesomeness of ice skating.

Your Turn . . . What do you no longer do? Why are you grateful?

I am writing a gratitude series titled Grateful 43. I will do this for 43 days. And I will write three things for which I am grateful 4 each topic. Do you see the play on the words 43 and FOR THREE?  Go here for the 43 Days of Gratitude JOURNAL Prompts

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