Life On The Road. Focus.

We are midway through our fifth week of life on the road. Five weeks of sleeping in hotels. Five weeks of loading and unloading as we travel from one hotel to the next. Five weeks of living out of a suitcase. Five weeks of restaurant food, some of it really good, and some not so much.

Five weeks away from home makes one weary. After this length of time, even little inconveniences get magnified into big irritations. Being away from home and family and friends for this length of time finds us longing for home, which makes this a good day to make a determined effort to focus on the positive.

Whether you're on an extended road trip or not, fatigue has a way of dragging us down, causing our focus to shift from the positive to the negative. That makes this a good day to shift my focus. To focus my attention on the positive. To remember all the reasons I have for being thankful.

Let's just start with this: yesterday marked six months since my stroke. Six months ago life changed, not just for me, but for my husband as well. Six months ago I was in the ICU, with family and friends wondering if I would wake up. Today I am so much improved that most people don't even realize that I had a stroke! Yes, there are things I can't do as well as I once did, but I am alive and healthy! I am a very blessed woman, and so thankful for how God has brought me through this challenge!

When I finish this post, I am going down to the gym to walk off some of the delicious food I have eaten over the last few days. A few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to do that, but now I can!

While we have been on this trip, I have been reading. Yes, reading! I never thought I would be able to do this again, but I am actually reading a book and enjoying it! It's a very slow process for me. In my "previous life", I probably would have read this book in 2 or 3 days. Currently, I have been working on it for about 5 weeks, and I'm about halfway through. If I let it, that could really frustrate me, since in the past I probably read about 10 books a month. But now, I am so grateful to be reading again and enjoying the process, something I never really believed would happen.

We have seen some beautiful countryside on this trip. We have eaten some delicious food. We have experience all kinds of weather.  It is a warm, sunny morning here in Ohio, which I'm very thankful for after almost three weeks of cold and gloom and rain.

One of the things I am most thankful for today is a change in our travel schedule, which allows us time to go home for a few days before we finish the trip. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. I'm even looking forward to doing my own laundry in my own washing machine!

Life on the road can be challenging.

But there is always something to be thankful for!