The Things We Take For Granted

 

Today I watched my neighbor squat down to pull weeds in her garden.

I found myself envious of her.

A year ago, I could have done exactly the same thing without giving it a second thought.

Later, as I picked tomatoes and cucumbers from my own garden, I couldn't squat. Instead, I bent from my waist and carefully balanced myself as I reached for each one.

It struck me how much we take our bodies for granted.

We assume we'll always be able to kneel beside a child, sit comfortably on the floor, sink into a deep squat, stretch into a child's pose, or simply get back up again.

Until one day... we can't.

That's the part no one prepares us for. It's not just the pain or the surgery. It's the surprise. The rude awakening that something so ordinary has become difficult.

It reminded me of those posts on social media—the ones that remind us we never know when it will be the last time we read our child a bedtime story, sing them a lullaby, or pick them up in our arms.

We don't recognize those moments while we're living them.

Maybe it's the same with our bodies.

We don't know the last time we'll effortlessly squat in the garden, sit cross-legged on the floor, or stretch without discomfort. We simply do it... until one day we realize we've already done it for the last time.

That realization is humbling.

So today, I'm grateful.

Grateful for every walk, every stretch, every movement my body still allows me to make. And while there are things I can no longer do the way I once did, I'm also grateful that I've learned to modify.

Perhaps that's the lesson.

Appreciate what your body can do today. Don't wait until something changes to realize what a gift those ordinary movements were.

Because the ordinary things are often the ones we miss the most.