On December 6, 2021 I completed my 5th annual "30 days of gratitude on Tunnel". It consisted of me hiking Tunnel Mountain here in Banff for 30 days straight on my own or with friend(s). And doing so while thinking and/or talking about one or more things that I am grateful for.
In the first two years of doing this, I posted daily on social media one thing that I was grateful for.
To be honest I found that overwhelming.
For this go around, I posted about this once a week on social media. Below is a recap of those posts!
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Day 3 - 30 days of gratitude on Tunnel
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful that I own a juicer. A few years ago, a friend gifted me one. I used it for about 5 months before it started smoking when I was juicing beets! So I bought a new and better one. Thankfully that one hasn't gone up in smoke 
Drinking freshly juiced vegetables and fruit does AMAZING things for our bodies.
Today I juiced a whole pineapple for the first time. It was SO tasty!
Here are my top 5 favourite juices:
1. Orange
2. Pineapple
3. Watermelon
4. Apple
5. Carrot/apple/ginger
BTW...this is the 5th year in a row that I'm doing "30 days of gratitude on Tunnel"...it takes me about 60-75 minutes total to hike Tunnel.
For the "30 days of gratitude on Tunnel" I'm hiking Tunnel daily...on my own or with friends...while thinking of something that I'm grateful for...and will be posting about it weekly.
I was going to start this year's 30 days on Nov 1, however we had snow-free roads and temps above 0C last week. I decided to bike most days last week...as long as I could before the snow came and the temps went below 0C during the day.
Day 11 - 30 days of gratitude on Tunnel
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful for laughter in my life. With the last 20 months that we've all had, laughter is needed now more than ever!
At times I tend to be way too serious, and am grateful to have people in my life who make me laugh. I'm getting increasingly better at laughing at myself 
Here's a couple of videos that ALWAYS make me laugh!
Day 16 - 30 days of gratitude on Tunnel
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful that I own a car.
Some people laugh at my car, including family at times! Yes it has some serious rust. Yes it has some things that could be fixed.
That being said, the engine still runs very well and I have really good winter tires. The odometer is a shade over 328,000km right now.
I bought this car brand new in Sep of 2000, after moving back to Canada from living in Japan for 2 years.
Top 3 experiences with my car:
- driving up to Yukon and Alaska in 2003
- going to Yellowstone National Park in 2004
- camping in Tofino in 2017
During the time that I've owned this car, I've easily invested at least 8X the value of this car in formal education, a wide variety of courses, certification programs, health sessions, healing sessions, coaching and business development.
Investing in self is the best investment of all 
Day 25 - 30 days of gratitude on Tunnel
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful to have had an ambitious, loving, intelligent, adventurous, open-minded and huge hearted Dad.
Today would have been his 79th birthday. He passed away from colon cancer in 1985 at the age of 42.
I've been flooded with memories of him today, along with both tears of gratitude and tears of missing him.
Here are a few things that were said about my Dad in his funeral tribute, which I re-read today:
"...an individualist who always believed in living life to the fullest"
"...a strong fighter for his ideals"
"He displayed a genuine thirst for truth and knowledge, sometimes outspoken and a non-comformist, always suggesting new revolutionary ideas, coupled with innovative methods."
My Dad co-wrote two books with his friend and work colleague Ken McCluskey.
His first book "Mexico: Behind the Sombrero" gives perspective of the Mexican people quickly and in an entertaining way. It is a fair and honest snapshot of life in urban Mexico in the late 1970s. This book was published in 1980.
My Dad's second book "The Doubtful Gift" shares strategies for educating gifted children in the regular classroom. I think this book was published in 1986...it's not officially noted in the book! This book was part of my Dad's PhD in Special Education, which was awarded to him posthumously.
I wonder what my Dad would think of me and my life now?
***About the photos***
1 - my favourite photo of my Dad...he exudes joy!
2 - his two books that he co-wrote
3 - my Dad at 21
4 - inscription on his Mexico book
Day 30 - 30 days of gratitude on Tunnel - FINISHED!
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful to have had an incredible role model for being kind.
Growing up my Mom often both told me and reminded me to be kind to people. It was instilled in me from a very young age.
Over the years since she passed away, a variety of people have told me that they remember how kind she was.
I do my best to lead with kindness. Sometimes that doesn't happen... That being said, I can humbly say that some people have told me that I'm kind.
Our world could use more kindness especially now.
I am also grateful to have completed hiking Tunnel Mtn for the last 30 days! Either alone or with friend(s). This is the 5th year in a row that I've done so in the Nov/Dec time period. I'm truly grateful to have the health and vitality to be able to be active.
***About the photos***
Out of the hundreds of photos of my Mom that I have, this is the best one! It was taken when she was 21. Second photo is me from Tunnel today that my buddy Andrew Staygold took.