I woke up in the middle of the night to a room awhirl. Seriously awhirl, as in the bed might well have been on a crazed merry-go-round. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant evening. Vertigo and I have met before. In my stomach. Unhappily.

Which leads me to today’s thanks, believe it or not. Because there’s nothing like being sick to help you realise how an ordinary day is a gift. But I’m not pulling that kind of stunt. Instead, what I’ve noticed today, being sicker than a dog (and mine can cough up copious quantities of sick), is how much being sick throws my life into focus.

So here it is, today’s recognised good fortune: I’m thankful for a soft bed to go whirling in. And a clean bathroom to go hurling in. I’m thankful for a washing machine, and hot water to fill it. And a shower, with more of that amazingly restorative hot water. I’m thankful for organic chicken noodle soup, too. It really does taste like homemade. I’m incredibly thankful for a husband who is solicitous, thoughtful, and soothing. He doesn’t feel well either (although at least the virus didn’t settle in his inner ear!), but still went to the store for us.

Most of all? I’m thankful that I know this will pass. That the big sky mind will return in the near future, and this will all be another chapter in ‘vertigo I have known and lived with.’ If there’s one thing I love about my Buddhist studies, it’s being able to breathe tonglen for someone who has it much worse than I do. And knowing how lucky I am that it will pass…