By Pattie Mihalik

For three days I was feeling like an active kid again.

Friday night we went dancing and we were especially peppy on the dance floor, dancing just about every number.

The next day David and I went for a 15-mile bike ride against 17-mile-an-hour winds. That’s not much when you’re walking, but when you’re biking into the wind it makes biking more challenging — at least it does for me.

But after vigorous dancing and biking, I felt good.

The next day I again felt great when we rounded out our trinity of favorite activities by kayaking.

Everything changed on Monday. All I was doing was getting ice out of the refrigerator door. No bending, no twisting, no effort. So I’m not sure why my back went out, but it felt like someone was wringing out my spine.

I had planned to go to a church event, but I was down for the count. On top of the piercing back pain I came down with a case of diarrhea.

I mentioned to my husband that if I was going to be ailing, I was thankful to have both problems at the same time so I didn’t have to waste two days instead of one.

He said he thought it was “ridiculous” to be thankful for two problems instead of one.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Sometimes you’re thankful for silly reasons.”

Well, by nature I tend to be a rather thankful person. There are many times during a typical day when I find myself feeling thankful for little things that may not seems like blessings to other people.

I guess I sometimes can find the blessing in problems as well as in pleasure.

I good example is my mango trees. I love mangos, especially during season when they are dripping with sweet goodness. For years I kept saying I wanted a mango tree of my own.

Finally, last summer I contracted with a nursery to put in a well-established mango tree in my yard. I wanted a big one so I didn’t have to wait years for it to bear fruit.

I have been enchanted with that tree as it grew bigger. When it sprouted what looked like bushels of flowers I was excited to know the flowers would turn into fruit in another two months.

Every day I went out to check on my tree, cheering it along and happy with its progress.

Unfortunately the guy who sprays the golf course waterway with pesticide to keep the weeds down decided to do it on a windy day. The pesticide blew onto my tree, turning much of it black.

I was upset that it happened, but I could do nothing except ask him to please not use pesticide on a windy day.

I still went to check the tree every day, hoping to see new growth that would tell me the mango tree wasn’t completely gone.

I went to the Master Gardner plant clinic with clippings from my tree’s blackened limbs to see if there was anything I could do to help it.

I was told it should come back strong next year. But no new growth would happen now.

An optimist by nature, I still went to carefully examine the tree a few times every week, hoping a few mangos would pop up.

Instead of new growth, I found a new pest. The Master Gardner said it was mealy worm eggs and needed to be treated with neem oil.

My take on all that?

I was thankful I examined the tree so closely, because it helped me see the first sign of infestation. That early detection should work in my favor.

So there I was again — thankful for a small blessing some might not see as a blessing at all.

Someone said it better years ago with a song about a silver lining. Some problems do have a silver lining, what I tend to call a small blessing.

It’s often apparent when I go for my morning walk. I have multiple foot problems, along with two meniscus tears. The orthopedic doctor claims surgery is the only answer to get rid of the pain. I’m not ready to give up.

Every morning when I can walk — and I can most days — I am thankful. When I realize I can be as active as I was this week, I am especially thankful.

Every single morning when I can walk without pain is a reason to rejoice.

It’s easy for each of us to see a blessing when big, good things happen to us. If we win $1,000 in a drawing we can see that as a blessing.

If our children come to vacation with us, it’s a sweet blessing.

But I find we have far more small blessings than big ones. If we only feel gratitude when big things come along, we are missing out on all the good, little things that occur each day.

I was talking about that with a few friends, and we all concur that the older we get, the more in tune we are in seeing and appreciating small blessings.

So call me kooky, but my life is filled with gratitude that grows stronger each year.

If you look for the small blessings in each day, you’ll learn to see life in a better way.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.