Grateful

I went for an early morning run today. It’s not really my style to hop out of bed and into my sneakers, but a pending Thanksgiving dinner got me going.

It was cool, still, and the sun wasn’t quite over the trees. My legs were tired and hamstrings tight but I started out on an uphill and pushed myself to be strong.

About 3k into my run, I saw the first person. A middle aged woman out delivering morning papers with her dog. Hair not brushed, eyes still puffy from sleep.

Then the next: an older man wearing a ratty toque, a wind breaker, shorts and socks hitched up high walking his dog.

And then the third: Hunting pants, dirty jacket, dog.

I live in a subdivision with fairly big sized yards and as a result it’s one of those neighbourhoods where you don’t really get to know your neighbours very well. People drive nice cars and women walking their dogs after the school bus rolls by wear Lululemon pants and tight jackets. There are a lot of jogging strollers and make-up at the grocery store. But this morning, it’s like I saw this other side to my neighbours.

It was as if we all stepped outside without our guard up because we knew no one would see us.

It made me smile, because we all spend so much time focusing on making our own lives look perfect, that it’s so easy to forget that not one of us are. We all have bad breath and messy hair in the morning. In this world of tweets and facebook statuses and texts and layers and layers of guarding ourselves, this morning I was able to see people for who they are in their ratty toques and old hunting pants and puffy eyes. And it was beautiful.

This weekend is full of family and friends and food and wine and children running around here with me. And I am so thankful for all of it – for our health and our happiness and the food we buy each and every week. But this morning, I was the most grateful for the glimpse I had into the secret lives of others: visible only before 7:00am.

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Tell me, what are you grateful for?