While doing some Spring cleaning I came across a cute little book called "Yiddish Wisdom" and found this great expression. I think the saying that I used as a subject for this blog, "He who has not tasted the bitter does not understand the sweet", is very appropriate for the winter weather that all of us around the country are experiencing. In the midwest and east coast, it is snow and here in San Diego it has been cold cloudy days and rain.
I know when the sun finally does decide to appear and to stick around for a while it is going to feel really good. Do we appreciate the sun when we have it non-stop, day in and day out ? Probably not. A man probably does not appreciate a girlfriend as much if he has never spent time alone pining away for a lost love.
In life no matter what age we are, we experience things that don't exactly work right. In a relationship things might not exactly be working right, in our bodies we may have things that aren't exactly working right, things in life may not be going our way. In the end we find ways to cope.
The cancer patient endures soul crushing chemotherapy that is so strong that it kills the cancer but it so damaging to the rest of the body, so that they may live another day. The person that experiences a very difficult divorce is hopeful of finding true love again. I think those of us with type 1 diabetes do what we need to do to live another day. Our journey is a difficult one and the road is a bit windy and narrow and paved with some stones at times but we appreciate life, we choose life and we do what we have to do to live another day.
Many of us are thankful for those that support us. We may be thankful for the insulin that keeps us alive. i think we are most thankful for life despite the challenges. Life for most of us is bittersweet but we are thankful for this life either way.
One thing that I like to do is to keep a gratitude journal of all the things in life that I am thankful. For those of you that have families this might be a good family activity. A running list could be kept on the refrigerator. It could be things so simple as, "I am thankful for my cat Lucas who sleeps by my feet every night when I go to bed". It could be, " I am thankful that God has created oceans so that I might float along endlessly in the water". It could be, "i am thankful for my body that allows me to run to catch a ball". How about, "i am thankful for my brother Joey who is so funny and always makes me laugh".
Would love to hear some of the things that you come up with. It is kind of a fun thing to do. Let's hear what you have to say !