Topic of the Day • Saturday, August 15, 2026

What have you learned to appreciate only after you almost lost it?

For me, the answer is pretty clear:

My appreciation for simply being here.

Before the brain injury and stroke, I could go through a day without giving much thought to how incredible it is that the body just keeps doing its thing.

Breathing.

Moving.

Thinking.

Getting in the Mini and going somewhere.

Working out.

Taking care of things around the house.

All of it was just part of life.

Then life changed the rules.

Now I notice those things.

I appreciate being able to wake up in the morning and have another day in front of me. I appreciate the things my body still lets me do, even when they take more effort than they used to. I appreciate being able to write down what’s going through my head and put my experiences into words.

I appreciate Missy being there, too. Sometimes it’s just having a dog nearby while the world does whatever the hell it’s going to do.

And I appreciate the ordinary stuff more than I ever expected to.

A drive.

A workout.

A cup of coffee.

A good storm.

Rain coming down after a long dry spell.

A quiet moment.

Even something as basic as taking a breath.

I don’t want to pretend that almost losing things automatically makes everything beautiful. Some losses are just losses, and disability has taken things from me that I still miss.

But it has also taught me something I probably wouldn’t have understood otherwise:

The ordinary isn’t ordinary when you realize how easily it can disappear.

So today, I’m going to pay a little more attention to what I still have.

Because I’m still here.

And that’s a pretty damn good place to start.