Her Unwavering Gratitude💫

She is so grounded, so resilient, so unshakeable.

She is even braver than she thinks.

She has proven over and over that she can do hard things.

Her unwavering gratitude has kept her at peace.

She is grateful to love and be loved through it all.

She is me. I am she.

An affirmations poem 11/28/2020🖤

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Practicing gratitude daily and year-round has dramatically helped my mental health throughout 2020 and years prior. I’ve learned that being grateful can co-exist with all the other feels.

I can be worried, anxious, sad, hurt, disappointed, angry, heartbroken – and still be grateful. I don’t have to choose between the emotions. They can co-exist and I can honor any that show up.

This has been powerful for me. As someone who often struggled (less now through the help of therapy🙌🏽) with being okay addressing and showing those heavier emotions when it felt like 1) it would burden others by needing support 2) disrupt peace and 3) it would sometimes clash/conflict with my normally outward appearance (of happiness, positivity, and joyfulness) and turned into questioning “how can I be this and that at the same time?!” – gratitude was my power. I can honor all of me when I’m grateful. And I’ve learned I am worth the space I take up with any emotion.

When I am grateful:

💫I’m present.

💫I’m full and I am enough.

💫I’m reminded of the blessings I have and that they are enough.

💫I’m reminded that I am loved. By my self, the people in my life and God/the Universe.

💫I know the Universe has my back and there are more blessings waiting for me. Ones that future me has already claimed.

💫I feel joy.

Having unwavering gratitude has allowed me to balance inner peace with the present chaos that is the outside world.

And while practicing gratitude for the big, small, and everything in between, it has granted me the power to manifest more of what is meant for me.

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So here’s what I am grateful for when I think of 2020.

While this year has been absolutely insane, I’ve been blessed with:

🖤More time to be with myself than ever before. I love myself and my gifts.

🖤Health, safety, and protection for myself and my loved ones.

🖤Purchasing a home of my own, in a new beautiful city. This home has brought me peace and shelter, and has seen me at all points throughout this year.

🖤Love from myself and those who are near and those who are far (but never make it feel like we are far apart).

🖤Support from work that is more than a job, but a community I’m so grateful to be apart of.

🖤The ability to work from home and find ways of working that are best for me. I enjoy my own space like never before.

🖤The perseverance and drive to continue to kill it at work with big projects and build confidence in myself to reach new heights.

🖤Waking up each morning and getting out of bed, even on the hard days.

🖤The most means to give to causes and communities I care about.

🖤A voice that is worth using to shine light on the injustices and stories that need to be told.

🖤Endless support and comfort from the beautiful people in my life who continue to show up for me on the days that were hardest.

🖤New memories and adventures with people I love even if there were only a handful compared to years prior.

🖤Good, great, and beautiful days that brought me joy even during the challenging times.

🖤Hope for the future ahead and a different meaning for surviving and getting through hard times.

A lot of really crappy things happened this year (literally sometimes daily, weekly, monthly), but when I look back, I hope I remember more of the moments when I proved to myself who I was during a year with a really hard vibe.

When you think of what you’re grateful for, are you at the top of your list?💫🖤

I hope so.

You have survived so much this year. You have proven you are so resilient and can do hard things. If you can survive 9 months of a pandemic and the unknowns that have come with it, you can survive anything my friend. I see you and right here with you.

P.S.