Gratitude Monday -- Not Grateful Edition

They last few days I have been mulling over what to be grateful for in this post,
Many things came to me, as they do, but nothing stood up and made its case.
It was then I realized the most important lesson of gratitude:
What's not to be grateful for?"

Gratitude Monday --Yay Spring Edition

Spring arrived this morning. I am so grateful. Not because it means the end of winter, but because I appreciate having definite seasons. They often overlap or get downright confused with a +20 Christmas Day one year and snow in July another, but they have their own style of weather and that's what's important.

Spring is also a very optimistic time. Plants start up believing in the sun and rain and the soil, animals mate believing in replenishing life, and humans? Well, the nice warm days and longer light makes most of us feel better.
So it's a new season, and in many ways a new year with a new life cycle, and for it I am grateful.

Gratitude Monday -- Words Didn't Fail Me Edition

It's getting on time to send out a manuscript. I need to do a last edit on it and give it a good reading before it goes out. I am grateful it has gotten to this point.
But I also need to work on the query package.  Along with a query letter some places like a synopsis, long or short, of the story.
I've shopped this story in the past so some of the hard work on the package is done.  It's been a few years and I like to think I can do a better job of it now. To that end I was going to wait until today to get started on reworking the letter.
Instead I felt a draw to do it yesterday morning, after coffee but before breakfast.
I have more sense than to ignore this feeling so I pounded out a few sentences and decided they were much better than the original.
The query needs more work, but the basis for a fresh, new look is ready and waiting for me, and for it I am grateful.

Gratitude Monday - The Pot-Bellied Slump Edition

The pain in my leg is almost gone and I have social media to thank for it.
An ad for a video course or somesuch and free ebook appeared in my FaceBook news feed. Normally I'd ignore it, but "leg pain" caught my eye so I read a bit.
After clicking around I learned about the psoas muscles and how they need to be engaged to walk properly without assorted pains.
In short we need to stand the way we were told to when we were young, shoulders back, chest out, tummy tucked. The latter should actually read the pelvis needs to be flat, but you get the idea.

 A few years ago I pulled hamstring, or so I thought. It never really did heal and I'd limp a bit after sitting awhile.
I've made an effort to stand properly and sit properly, something I never did. I slump. When one slumps one gets a pot belly.
Surprisingly, standing and sitting properly with the psoas muscles engaged feels really good.
The leg pain is reduced considerably, and best of all the stomach and abdomen muscles that were hurting me when I stood too long is all but cured.
I am grateful I found this ad, happy I was intrigued enough to look around, and beside myself that merely changing my posture has led to all this improvement.

I'm not sure engaged is the right word to use, but it gets my point across.
I must note this is anecdotal to me. In no way am I dispensing advice, medical or otherwise.
There's still a far way to go. The stance does not come naturally and it only hides the belly a bit.
But hey, it's a start, and that's good enough for now.