Gratitude Attitude

I believe in gratitude attitude. When I wake up every morning, I feel grateful.

I feel grateful that I’m alive. I’m grateful that I can walk, that I’m not in a wheelchair. For some reason my left leg is 1,5 cm shorter than my right leg which occasionally causes hip pain, but at least I have two legs. I’m neither deaf nor blind. I don’t see that well without my contacts or glasses, but at least I can see.

Because of an injury in Lanzarote about three years ago I have a permanent pain in my left elbow. When the doctor said surgery wouldn’t help, I thought about teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton whose left arm was bitten off by a tiger shark in 2003. At least I have both my arms. Things can always be worse and the best one can do is to appreciate what is – in all parts of life.

In the beginning of last month I discovered a lump in my left chest. At first I ignored it, didn’t think it was anything serious. Or better phrased, I didn’t want to think it was anything serious. Finally I contacted a doctor for an examination. During my appointment about two weeks ago she thought the lump felt suspicious and gave me a scheduled time for a mammogram. At first I got 29th October. No way I’m going to wait that long I thought, and asked for an earlier date. I got tomorrow.

As I wrote on Twitter a few days ago, I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If the results are normal, great. Better safe than sorry. If it’s something, I’ll deal with it. No matter what I will stay optimistic. I refuse to think anything else than positive thoughts. No point in worrying or complaining about things. I think something good is hidden in each challenge, and focus on the solution rather than the obstacle. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was right when he said “Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem.”

I’m grateful I have traveled as much as I have and intend to travel more throughout my life. Visit new places, experience new countries, see new sights, meet new people, walk through new neighborhoods, read new maps, drive new roads, capture new shots, write new travel articles, discover new cultures, study new languages, hear new sounds, listen to new music, dance new dances, smell new smells, stay at new hotels, live in new cities, go to new restaurants, taste new food, check out new exhibitions, learn new sports, run through new parks, board new ferries, hop on new trains, and buy flight tickets to new destinations.

Good memories are something to be grateful for and anything new is something to look forward to.