I haven’t seen a thigh gap in almost 40 years.  I have stretch marks, cellulite, bat-wing arms, saggy jowls, a double chin, an ever-growing belly – and yet…

And yet, today, my body woke up with few aches and pains.  My brain sifted through the contents of the fridge and, with the help of my hands and arms, assembled sandwiches, apple slices, homemade trail mix, and ice water for a hike. We drove to the trailhead and I set my feet on the dusty trail.

Today, my body carried me up that trail. It sweated to cool me.  It took in the sights.  It found the scents on the air which are so familiar to me from this terrain.  It carried me down to the lake and in.  It felt the silty bottom and found an old rhythm it knows from swimming in the lakes of my past.  It felt the watery cradle, and saw the blue, blue sky, the silvery spires of dead trees still standing, and the luminous green of manzanita still sprouting new growth.

With a body that can do all this for me, how is it that I am ever tricked by the other list?