“World Gratitude Day, celebrated annually on September 21st, offers a moment to pause and reflect on the many blessings in our lives. In a world often dominated by the hustle and bustle, taking time to focus on gratitude can significantly improve our mental well-being and overall happiness.”
I’ve been tracking #threegoodtbings and sharing a daily gratitude post for a few years now. It does make me feel better. Even having to pay attention and look for the good things is helpful.
Here’s today’s #threegoodthings:
1. It’s September 21st! And that reminds me of a very good song.
2. Little London bike ride. Sarah and I went for a short bike ride Saturday afternoon, north of London, with our friend Rob. No photos but here’s the Strava record of our ride.
3. My day began with a dog and daughter bike in Rockwood Conservation area. Gwen and Cheddar and I spent Saturday morning walking through the woods and into the caves.
I entered my 100th workout in the 224 workout in 2024 group. Nothing exciting–personal training–but I did it. I showed up (even though we woke up less than 45 minutes before training started and we had to drive there!) Today was deadbugs, and steps ups, and face pulls, and kettlebell deadlifting, and push ups and squats. And more, but I don’t remember. It’s a bit of a blur but a great way to start the day.
Thing 2
You might not know it, but it’s the first day is spring. You might think that means this,
Daylight is back! For the first time in awhile, here in Ontario, we have more than 12 hours of daylight. Thanks, Kate, for pointing that out and supplying the graphic. Whatever you think of springing forward (I’m fan–I like being able to ride my bike in the evening light) I think we can all (almost all?) agree that more daylight is better, however it’s distributed. Whee!
Sam, her new orthotics, and an excellent audiobook go for a walk
New orthotics! I no longer need orthotics to support my knees. My new knees are doing just fine all on their very own, thank you very much. Believe it or not though I still need orthotics, and thanks to having a job with benefits, I now have new orthotics. These are just designed to help my arthritic toes. I took them out for a walk in my new Hokas, accompanied by an excellent audiobook and one very good dog.
Tough Broad! My copy of the book I recommended last week arrived in the mail. I’m an aspiring tough broad who is looking forward to more active, outdoor adventure in my life and I’m looking to be inspired. I’ll report back soon.
① Campus Mile: This week, I got to walk with co-workers in the College of Arts Deans office. We did the Campus Mile. It’s the kick off event for Workplace Wellness Month. Here we are with Gryph, the university mascot. I’m on the Workplace Wellness committee at U of G but for the past few years I haven’t done the campus mile because of my knee. This year was perfect. My knees were fine. The weather was lovely. And it was great seeing so many people from across campus out walking together.
College of Arts Dean’s office staff
② Walking home from work: This week was also my first time walking home from work since my second knee surgery. I often walk that far with Cheddar. Here he is below visiting me on campus for lunch at Bob’s Dogs. But it’s more challenging walking home because it’s downhill and I’ve got my briefcase. This week, I did it. That bodes well for winter walks to work if it’s too snowy or icy to ride.
Cheddar at Bob’s DogsWaiting patiently for a bite
③ Parts of my job that I missed: House Calls and Convocation are both parts of my job that I really enjoy. House Calls is a program where we visit all the first year students in residence and see how their semester is going. I’m always impressed with how forthcoming the students are, sharing their successes and their struggles. For years, I’ve asked to go to residences where there isn’t much walking. But this year I didn’t and I got south.
South residence
I also learned a lot about our South residence. It’s another brutalist landmark, designed by the same Australian architect who designed the CN Tower. It houses 1800 students. So many stairs!
“Designed by Australian architect John Andrews, each hall has four wings, with each wing comprised of three six-storey vertical sections called houses. The small alcoves and numerous lounges foster tight-knit communities where students develop close friendships.
South Residence is the U of G’s largest residence, accommodating 1800+ students and is sub-divided into Mountain, Prairie, and Maritime Halls The buildings are a unique architectural design, with each hall laid out as identical backward “F”‘s Each hall is further sub-divided into four wings for a total of 12 wings across South Each wing is divided into “towers,” which are numbered. Example: “Woodlands 3” refers to the Woodlands Wing (in Mountain) and Tower #3 A common floor called “street level” runs across the entire residence, and each tower is situated both above and below street level Each tower is made up of a series of stacked levels that have students living in groupings of 4 – 10 people in a mix of alcove and long hallway style sections.”
Oh, and last but not least, I get to go to my other favorite event this week, University Convocation. From first year students at House Calls to graduating students at Convocation. Both are feel good events for me and I’ve missed them with my busted and now my recovering knees. I’m really looking forward to Convocation.
And then I started in with #ThreeGoodThings, during the whole knee replacement year, because I needed to be reminded of Good Things. I wasn’t sure how long I’d keep it going but the thing is, I enjoy it.
Some of my friends find it corny, possibly annoying, but I honestly find it helps my mood. I’ve been wondering why and today, while out walking Cheddar (he makes a frequent appearance in these lists) I came up with three ways it helps and I thought I’d share them.
🐶 I often draft the lists at night and then share them in the morning. I enjoy the process of reflecting on my day and thinking about the good it contained. Sometimes, it’s as simple as the basics. I have family and friends who love me. I have a roof over my head and good food to eat. It gives me a moment to note and appreciate the baseline goods in my life, the goods that make other goods possible.
🐶 Other days, I can look at events that weren’t good overall but have good elements and appreciate the good bits. Today was Homecoming at my university, and there are lots of student parties. I have a bit of a thing about drunk people. I don’t like them. I can be a grump about loud drunken parties. But early in the day, before the serious drinking commences, they’re out there having fun and happy to see Cheddar. He gets lots of love and attention. That was a good thing. Ditto making a mistake at work that was serious, and I felt bad about it. But I realized that I worked at a sensible place with reasonable people who allowed me to fix my mistake. Keeping track makes me think about the good elements in things I otherwise don’t like, drunks and making mistakes are high on my list.
🐶 The third way keeping track helps is sometimes, midway through a tough day, I’ll think about drafting my list at night and realize ‘Hey, if I keep this up it will be another night of being thankful for food and shelter. Maybe it’s not too late to save the day. Maybe I can add something good to it now. I can go for a walk. I can get a fancy coffee and a pumpkin muffin.’ I also browse Facebook for friends’ good news. I really do enjoy my friends’ adventures. I see three of us took lengthy, pretty walks today, for example. I love your travels and your bike rides and your children’s first days of school. I always love your pet photos. Sometimes, your good thing becomes my good thing. I hope that works vice-versa, too.
