Daily Gratitude: I probably talk about this one too much but that’s because it’s one I have to keep reminding myself of. For some reason we don’t see anything as a success unless it’s either a) big and flashy (obvious) or b) complete and able to be crossed off our list. But success is actually making it through each day. There are some of you who will think that’s BS and others who will shout “yeah!” because they have been (or are in) that kind of situation. When I had the post shingles nerve pain (postherpetic neuralgia), making it through each day was a bigger accomplishment than anything else I’ve ever done. Did I celebrate that? No – I was too worried about when the next surge of electricity would come. Fast forward 9 years to yesterday when I was out on my training walk and i had to stop at a light at 3.5 miles. I realized how important it was for me to be grateful that at least up to that point none of the physical problems that have popped up lately hadn’t bothered me that morning. It didn’t matter what night show up later. What mattered was that I felt good right then and there. That was a success and it was my “job” to express gratitude for that success. Yes, later my foot and knee started to let me know they were there. But did that take away from the earlier success and the happiness that went with expressing my gratitude? For once the answer is “no”. I could still feel the excitement of that recognition and it was fun and made me want to repeat the process. One tiny little thing forged how my whole day went. I could have chosen to ignore it but fortunately I didn’t. What can you consider a success today?