Still Thankful

Although I'm closing in on the 3-year anniversary of reaching my goal (in May), there are still so many little things that I'm thankful, so many small things that I hope I never take for granted.

I had the opportunity this past week to once again experience the wonder and joy of a couple of simple things.  The first thing was at my chiropractor's office when I put on one of the dressing gowns (my chiropractor uses the Gonstead approach to chiropractic care, which requires a visual examination of the spine).  Before losing 126 pounds on this program, I could barely fit into his extra-large size gowns.  The gown would be tight across my stomach and hips and, while fastened at the neck, was open the rest of the way in the back until the bottom few inches, where the gown was seamed.  I was always self-conscious about the fact that the gowns couldn't meet in the back.  Last week when I changed into a gown, I changed into a size medium (he doesn't have size small) and I was swimming in the gown - it was HUGE!  Realizing again that the medium size was WAY too big brought a smile to my face and made me shake my head in wonder as I remembered how it was for so many years.

Then a couple of days ago I grabbed a pair of my knee-high boots and sat down to zip them up.  Since it's winter and we have a lot of snow in Michigan, boots are pretty much required every time I go outside, so I'm zipping up boots almost every day, sometimes several times a day.  This time, however, I remembered a winter just four years ago when I couldn't wear fashion boots because my calves were too heavy - I couldn't find boots that would zip up my heavy legs.  In my obese days, my boots were only ankle high.  I'd see photos of cute winter outfits that included fun fashion boots and I remember wishing I could wear them, but I was never able to find any that would fit.  Now I have a couple pairs of nice leather ones and I almost take it for granted when I put them on before heading out the door.  This past week, however, I got a little thrill all over again at the simple wonder of being able to easily zip them up, with room to spare.

There have been many wonderful and HUGE changes to my life since I reached my goal, but I never want to lose sight of the simple and wonderful little things, either.  Examination gowns that fit, boots that zip - these little things and so much more, all things to be thankful for, and I am!

You probably have a list of big things that you're looking forward to enjoying when you reach your goal, but don't be surprised if there are some surprising little things that will also bring you joy.  You'll reach your goal and experience these joys, and so much more, one day and one choice at a time.  Choose wisely :-)