My Glass Half Full Day

As I woke up this morning with my hip still hurting for no known reason, my muscles aching when I haven’t done anything for them to ache and feeling like I want to roll back over and go to sleep instead of getting in the shower and driving 40 miles to work, I started to put things in to perspective.  My garage door opener stopped working about a week ago so I have been parking outside, but I still have a house to live in so, I’m grateful.    My husband, oldest son and I went over to my parent’s house and worked Sunday, mowing the lawn, blowing leaves, cleaning in the house so it would not be so much work for my aging parents (late 70’s) who have been in Florida for 5 months.  In helping my parents we skipped a trip we were planning to go to in Williamsburg VA for my youngest son because his knee was hurting.  When finishing up at my parents my car didn’t start.  Had we gone to Williamsburg we may have been stranded hours away from home instead of using one of my parent’s vehicles to get a jump.  I needed to do work at my house, but I am so grateful I still have both my parents and glad my son and husband understand that it is too much for my parents to do and stepped in and helped out without complaining.  They gave up things that they wanted to do and put my parents first.  I am so grateful for them thinking beyond themselves.    I’ve been having car trouble where my car won’t start, even though I have been stranded it has been at home or my son’s school, I was never alone and always able to get a jump.  We did some work on it over the weekend cleaning the battery cables which hopefully will fix the problem and save us some money.  I have a car to drive even if it has problems at times, so I am grateful.
On, my drive to work this morning I was listening to the Steve Harvey Morning Show and one thing that Steve talked about in his opening monolog was the analogy of baking a cake and how as a kid he used to love to taste the batter and the final cake.  He kept saying you have to wait on your cake or something like that.  As a child he decided he didn’t want to wait and started tasting the ingredients before the batter was complete, flour by itself, vanilla extract by itself, cinnamon by itself, etc.  Each of us as adult’s know that each of those ingredients alone do not taste good but together along with the eggs, butter and other cake ingredients taste great.  All of this to say we have things in life that alone are hard to swallow (MS, garage door problems, car not running, people giving me grief, discrimination, etc.)  When you pull all these things together, some very difficult to deal with others more bothersome and some things can be very hurtful but in the end the mold us and make us the people we become.  In the end our lives will be stronger as we push through the struggles as bitter as a pill of the diagnosis of MS has been as a result I appreciate the little things in life more.  I appreciate and am grateful for the relationships I have formed.  I am grateful for the positive lifestyle changes I am incorporating.  Today is a glass half full kind of day for me.  This job that I didn’t feel like driving to this morning because I wanted to go back to sleep is allowing me to keep my house, get my car fix, pay for my medical insurance and keep my independence.  I’m grateful for the DS MS group and the post of old and new friends.  I’m grateful that my oldest child is graduating from high school this year.  I watched Kevin Durant’s NBA MVP speech this morning and again, listening to him tell each of his teammates, coaches and family members with tears in his eyes how he appreciates them and how they each had a part in him reaching his goal and especially his mother who went without and encouraged him helps me to see the good in people and how such as small thing as words can change a person’s perspective and others perception.  Have a great glass half full day today!  Be grateful for tomorrow is not promised.