Week Twelve - Day Two

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 25 min.
TIME BACK: 27 min.
WEATHER: clear, 7C, 24km/hr wind there; clear, 9C, 33km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, scarf, running gloves (gloves and scarf in backpack on the way home)
NOTES:
I am grateful for the fact that I don't engage in a hacking fit every time I come to a stop at an intersection anymore. I am grateful that I don't feel exhausted to my core. I am grateful I don't feel compelled to fall asleep during counselling sessions. In short, it is wonderful to feel healthy again!

It's as though staying home and taking care of my seriously ill child last week was a trial by fire from which I emerged a cleansed spirit. Cleansed, that is, of my annoying lingering cold. That bastard has been dragging me down since the beginning of October! Ever since then I've been dosing up on vitamins, trying to sleep and rest as much as I can, gargling with salt water, and rinsing out my sinuses with a saline solution 2-3 times a day. I even used my daughter's antibiotic eye/ear drops in the hopes of clearing up whatever was causing the misery in my ears and throat. No matter what I tried, the symptoms might disappear briefly, but they always came back. Like the cat that came back, but even more annoying - and probably with fewer fleas. I think what ultimately killed it off was the simplest experiment I could have tried: I got some honey lemon ginseng green tea from the supermarket, and not only did I drink that - I also gargled with it. Literally overnight my persistent sore throat got better, and within a couple of days all of my symptoms were gone. Thanks, honey lemon ginseng green tea, you're the greatest!

I felt good today - healthy, sparkly, good at my job. I even caught myself in the mirror and thought I looked pretty. Of course I still have plenty of weight to lose, and I desperately need to cut and style my hair, but I felt for the first time in ages like I could see the beautiful, youthful, vital person who has been hiding behind these layers of fat for so long. The sparkle in my eye, the natural pink flush on my cheeks, the quick readiness to smile and laugh - it's all there, it always has been, and it's what makes me beautiful.

That's another thing I'm grateful for. I can't always see what others see in me, the things that attract my friends and lovers and make my family love me. But today I think I saw it, and it reminded me that despite my flaws I really am a lovable person. And for that I'm most grateful.