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Healthy living shows gratitude
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Arianne Brown looks out over Utah Lake. - photo by Arianne Brown
As I made it to the top of a hillside near my home, I felt the need to stop and it wasnt for the usual reasons.

I wasnt tired, hurt or otherwise unable to continue on, but I was overcome with the beauty that surrounded me.

Clouds were beginning to accumulate, signaling that a storm was on its way, and the wind was blowing the dry brush that was covering the hillside. As I looked to my right, I saw a family of deer that was also moving upward toward the ridgeline, and we would soon share the spectacular view from above.

As I stood there, I felt thankful for my surroundings, but it was right then, when I was reminded of another thing that I am grateful for, and it came in the form of my baby boy who was actively kicking inside of me.

I touched my eight-months-pregnant belly and felt gratitude for the little one inside, as well as for the ability to continue an active and healthy lifestyle this far into my seventh pregnancy.

However, this feeling of gratitude that was overwhelming my heart and mind wasnt the end result, but was what got me to the top of that hill.

For me, being healthy and fit is much more than being able to run for miles, climb to tall peaks, win races and have muscles and a slender waistline. It is even more than being able to play with my kids and future grandkids without getting tired something that ranks extremely high on my list.

Being healthy every day of my life is something that began with the desire to be grateful grateful for a body that can do amazing things. I was born with legs to help balance and propel me forward, with arms to lift things and also provide balance. I was blessed with lungs to breathe fresh air in and push air out, and a miraculous web of veins to move blood throughout my body to help me see, think and live.

It is the knowledge that this is the only body I have, and the realization that to fully show gratitude for it, I must make make sure every day that I take the best care of it that I can, that motivates me.

Whats even better: When I show gratitude for this miraculous body I have been given stewardship over, it in turn gives me so much more to be grateful for.

So, during this season of giving thanks, make sure to not only be grateful for your body, but show your gratitude for it by doing all you can to make it healthy, through exercise and healthful eating every day.