If you’re been reading my column for a while you probably know how strongly I feel about Thanksgiving.

I don’t believe being thankful should be limited to one day a year. Rather, I think thanksgiving should be a state of mind that leads us to appreciate our blessings every single day.

Regardless of the weather or what’s going on in my life, I start my day doing what I call my gratitude walk.

The ability to welcome the gift of each new day starts for me as soon as I step outside. When I deeply inhale my first breaths outdoors I am filled with gratitude for the gift of life.

Many say they begin their daily thanksgiving as soon as they awake. They remind me I don’t need to be outside for that. So true.

But when I’m outside counting my daily blessings I realize all I see before me is a blessing.

On this morning’s greatly abbreviated gratitude walk I noticed the beauty of the variety of wildflowers. Most people call those little flowers that spring up on their own “weeds.”

I suppose they are weeds. Yet they are unique and beautiful if you look closely at the tiny delicate flowers. This morning I noticed three different kinds of little flowers in these weeds.

For me, it’s impossible to be outside without marveling at the wonders of nature.

Lately, my gratitude walk is greatly curtailed by necessity. I cannot walk more than a block or two without being stopped by hip pain. A torn tendon makes every step painful.

At first I pushed through the pain every day, thinking if I didn’t give up the pain would eventually lessen.

When I was finally blessed with being under the care of competent physical therapist I learned my persistence in trying to push past the pain was actually hindering my recovery.

The stark truth, he said, is if I want the painful inflammation to heal I have to start doing nothing. “Nothing!” he stressed.

Doing nothing is one of the hardest things I face. Actually, doing nothing is impossible. I have to shop for groceries, and that’s a lot of walking in the store.

I finally stopped saying “but” and listened to the therapist.

Just as the pain was starting to lessen, to prepare for a repair man I was forced to bail water out of the hot tub, twisting my body and heaving countless buckets of water. By the time I finished, the pain was more intense than ever and I had a major setback in healing.

The physical therapist has started to say surgery might be necessary.

So, no walking. No biking. No dancing. No kayaking until we see my hip pain lessens.

I have long known that it’s easy to be thankful when everything is going great.

It’s much harder when you have to physically surrender basic movement. But it’s not impossible. It just takes attitude adjustment.

My prayer of thanksgiving changes as life necessitates changes for me.

I am still grateful, thankful for every step I take. I still do my morning gratitude walk, but I measure it in feet, not miles.

When I need a lesson in trust or patience, God sends a special someone to inspire me.

My close friend Chrisanna is that special someone. This physically fit, active young woman was stunned a few months ago when she was told she had a life threatening aortic aneurysm. Doctors were honest in their answers to her questions, admitting she had a 50 percent chance of dying during surgery.

Chrisanna used her strong faith to stay positive. “Whatever happens, I am in God’s hands,” she said.

After a difficult surgery and long recovery, she was hit with another medical emergency and needed more serious heart surgery.

Through many more months of isolation and treatment, she kept her positive attitude only to learn she now needs more heart surgery.

Despite all she is being hit with, she never says “Why me?” Instead she stays positive, focusing on the many blessing she has had throughout her life.

She thrives on being with people but because she has a compromised immune system she has to isolate. With the little bit of grounding I’m forced to have, I marvel at her ability to stay positive.

Chrisanna herself is a gift to many of us who are awed by her unfailing faith and trust.

“I am humbly grateful for each day I am given,” she says.

The more we look at her the more we know our own physical setbacks are nothing by comparison.

A male friend of mine told me he thought he was always a thankful person. But as he grows older he says he find himself grateful for every physical thing he once took for granted.

In a problem-filled America it’s easy to grumble too much and take too much for granted. Yes, life has gotten difficult. Skyrocketing prices and shortages of everything from cars to turkeys frustrate us. We need to remember we still live in great nation.

While many do need attitude adjustments I am heartened to see a spirit of thanksgiving returning as more of us are focused on all our blessings great and small.

We know it is possible to be grateful during tough times because our blessings are still too numerous to count.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.