Gratitude: Colorado

I’m starting a new series…This November I’m creating a post a day for you all on gratitude. Each day will cover something that I’m grateful for. I hope you all find at least one of them useful!

And so, here is my first one.

I’m grateful for COLORADO.

I loved growing up in a beautiful state with so much landscape to enjoy. I didn’t really learn to appreciate it until I grew older. High school was when I finally figured out how lucky I was to live in such a scenic place. By then, it was already too late. Within the next year or two I was off to college in urban Saint Louis, Missouri.

It’s been quite the change–moving from seeing 14ers in your backyard to staring at skyscrapers and pavement all day. Change isn’t always a bad thing, and it’s not necessarily a good thing either. Each change has it’s own characteristics, good and bad. Change is change.

I love nature and I love the city life. I love the fact that the two coexist in this world. It’s quite incredible coming from a place that has so much life of its own. Colorado is the perfect place to grow up.

As an athlete, you train at altitude and push your body to new heights.

As a student, you get to experience both the city life and the urban life–stretching your mind beyond the surface.

As a traveler, you get to climb mountainsides and relax by the lake.

As a curious human, you get to find yourself in the midst of nature.

Some of my fondest memories come from being in nature. I remember sitting on my screened in porch at home and reading novels from the public library all day during the summers. I plowed through at least 3-4 books per week.

I remember crawdad fishing in my backyard with my sister and some friends. Sometimes I even went alone. I tied twine to fallen tree branches and attached a piece of hot dog to the end. It sounds odd, but it worked. The crawdads came and I was amazed.

I recall going on bike rides to sonic by taking the bike path that weaved alongside the canal by my house. It was such a peaceful ride–up and down hills next to the rushing water.

I loved the car rides up and down mountains during the summer with my family. The elk would stop in the middle of the road in front of us, and it seemed almost as if we could touch them.

Colorado is truly magnificent. And I’m incredibly grateful that I got to grow up in the presence of a surreal place.