This is one of the first cards I made from a digital image. The date on the file is 2003 and I created this image from a negative scan.

I remember dinking with it a long time before I was really happy with the effect and how it looked on the photo paper. Without some calibration work and consistent print settings, what appears onscreen doesn’t necessarily show up on photo paper. I learned a lot getting this photo to print to my satisfaction. I love the whole process. Even if I do sometimes teach my dogs new words, I certainly wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have some passion for it. I’m always excited to learn more.

So, what am I thankful for today? This morning I am thankful for my health.

There are too many of my “family” dealing with things I can only imagine. As I lay in bed this morning checking Facebook, Mail, and Twitter, and trying to decide which photo to post, I thought only of the relatively simple things I have to do. I thought how little time there really is in a day. I reflected on how often (and probably will again today) I squander the time I do have; how in my confusion and uncertainty about my future, I am somehow slightly paralyzed right now. What AM I going to do? What next? How am I ever going to turn this rather paralyzing fear of my future into the sense of adventure that I need to move ahead? Why is that SO difficult right now?! They’re all legitimate questions and concerns.

But for me, all that worry really is related only to a house, a house payment, bathroom tile, debt, pride, continuity, and Christmas.

For me this morning, there’s no real fear of an enemy that attacks me from within. I don’t wonder if my hair is going to fall out. I don’t worry that because of something I can’t control, I’m so tired I can barely move. I’m not waiting for a wave of nausea to hit me. I don’t look forward to the holidays knowing that I’m not likely to feel good. I don’t roll over in the night and wonder how my partner might need to go on without me — a lot sooner than either of us had planned. I didn’t lay in my bed this morning thinking that for me, the world had stopped; that everything is moving around me and I am stuck in this place to battle for my life.

These things I only imagine as thoughts I might have first thing in the morning, if I were sick. Lucky for me, I have to imagine it all.

One of my dearest friends once told me that if money could fix it, “it” wasn’t a problem. Isn’t that just true?! Certainly that doesn’t minimize the real problem of having too little money, but without one’s health, everything else has got to be secondary.

So, this morning, I thank God for my health. Today I aim to enjoy that extraordinary gift. I’ve already selected my photograph, written my piece, and am awake and ready to go earlier than usual. Today I think maybe I can finish that resume that has completely stumped me lately, and prepare my house and my plan for the week ahead. And now, I’m kind of excited.

I knew this would be a good exercise.

I wish you all peace and joy, and good health.