I Am Thankful for the Fleas

If you don't recognize the quote from the title of this post, I highly recommend reading Corrie Ten Boom's book "The Hiding Place". It has wisdom and insight that we could all use right now.

For the first few days, I felt a bit like a ghost in my own house. It was hard to focus on what I could do, because what I couldn't do loomed so large. All morning, the kids are doing their school work online and my husband is teaching online. This puts a huge strain on our internet - so I can't use any. I also have to be super quiet (and keep my parrot quiet). It would be unfair to have background noise or be distracting. 

In all honesty, I'm making this up as I go along. I never thought I would write a blog. How could I possibly have enough to say to make regular posts. It turns out, I have a lot of opinions. (I think no one is surprised by that!) For the past few days I have been typing non-stop. My husband asks how my book is coming along! At the moment, I'm looking at having a section on well-being and a section on muscles. We'll see how that goes!

Gratitude

Often when we think of gratitude, we think of the big headings. Like going around the table at Thanksgiving:

"I'm thankful for my family"

“I’m thankful for my health”

“I’m thankful for my home”

“I’m thankful for my job”

Don’t get me wrong, these are wonderful, important things that we should be grateful for. However, only sitting down a few time a year and expressing gratitude is like only saying “I love you” on our anniversary. Our mental, emotional and relationship health require so much more than that.

Someone in my life, who I find inspiring, writes a gratitude Facebook post. Every Single Day. (You know who you are!) It started as one of those little challenges that goes around, but she has kept it up for years. I’m going to be honest, I can’t even remember to take a vitamin every day, so this may be an unrealistic goal for me.

Showing gratitude regularly is important. We all know how good it feels when someone else acknowledges our efforts or makes us feel appreciated. Even if emptying the dishwasher is a regular assigned chore, saying “thank you” makes the person feel good. We teach our kids to have manners in public, but it’s also important to model them at home. You may think that showing gratitude for every little thing will make it trite, like getting a certificate just for showing up. It isn’t.

I am grateful when my kids empty the dishwasher and share the workload. I work hard and I appreciate not having to do every little chore at home too.  When we look at all the individual tasks we do in a day, each one isn’t too big. When we put them all together, they sometimes threaten to crush us. When my boss buys me a cup of coffee and says “I appreciate all you do here”, it’s lightens that load. When I help with a co-worker’s task, and she says “Thank-you, you’re the best”, it makes me glad I made the effort.

No one likes to feel invisible or unimportant. We are starting to notice how important some of those so-called “unskilled” or “blue-collar” jobs are right now. I have six years of post-secondary education, and I’m stuck at home. I can’t do my job right now. Where would we be without the shelf stockers, hospital cleaners, truck drivers right now. These are people we know and see. What about the factory workers that we can’t see, on the assembly lines, creating the single-use items that make our level of first world hygiene possible? Be grateful. Say thank you.

I see a lot of “black humor” going around. I get it, it serves a purpose in scary times. I have also made the odd quip, “We’re good at my house, no one has killed anyone yet.” Black humor is a pressure valve, it shouldn’t be a state of mind.

I’m so grateful that all my family is under one roof. I’m grateful that the kids can keep up with their studies. I’m grateful for the technology that is making social connection possible. I’m grateful for the family time together, all to soon I will have an empty nest. I am grateful for the signs of spring. The world has been put on pause, and I am going to look for the silver lining.

And be grateful.

Now, on to our muscle of the day:

Pectorals

There are two pectoralis muscles (major and minor) on each side of our chest. Pectoralis Major travels from our collar bone and breast bone to the top of our arm. Pectoralis Minor travels from our ribs to our shoulder blade. They are responsible for upper arm and shoulder movement. When we lift things with both hands or hold things in front of us, we use our pects. Almost everything we do all day is in front of us. Typing, driving, cooking, cleaning, gardening, and even reading a book require our arms to be in front of us. This position keeps the pects short and tight all day long. Eventually this can lead to rounding our shoulders forward and making us look like the Hunchback!

Pect Stretch

Two Handed

1. Stand in an open doorway and put both hands on the door frame at shoulder height.

2. Slowly step through the door with one foot, until you feel a stretch in your chest. Hold 20-30 seconds. Breathe!

3. Step back to center

Step through with the other foot. Hold 20-30 seconds. Breathe!

One Handed

1. Stand in a doorway or outside corner of a wall. Place your right hand on the wall at shoulder height, with your elbow bent.

2. Slowly turn your whole body to the left until you feel a stretch in your chest.  Don’t plant your feet, keep them in line with your legs. Hold 20-30 seconds. Breathe!

3. Turn back to center.

Repeat with your left side.

Passive Stretch

Roll a medium towel into a sausage shape. Lay on your back with the towel along your spine. This lifts the middle of your back up, allowing the shoulders to fall back and gently stretch the pects.

Hot or Cold?

Tight muscles like heat. If you want to put heat on your pect muscles, only do one side at a time. Putting heat across your chest can make the blood rush to your head and give you a headache.