Actively Practising Gratitude: The Beauty of Being Thankful

 

There is so much beauty in counting your blessings! 

As we say hello to 2026, nothing but much changed in most of our lives since yesterday. It is true that a day doesn't necessarily make much difference, but gratitude makes ALL the difference. Human nature seems to dictate that we always focus on finding ways in which our lives are not that complete instead of thinking about all the beauty in it. 

I planned to write this in a great mood but a rough night's sleep (it was NYE after all, so a lot of commotion) made me feel my age when I woke up haha. I am not even THAT old. So writing this seemed like a (small) obstacle but isn't that exactly the point - that we should be even more grateful when things don't go our way. 

So let me break it down into three parts: 

THINGS

I mean, come on, look at this. It's magical! Snowfall this heavy doesn't always happen where I am, so it makes it even more special. I am very thankful that I can see this and do you know what is even better?! Opening the window and feeling the ice cold air against your face. It makes you feel ALIVE! 

Waking up in a place that is warm and CLEAN is also a blessing. I have not had much energy since I moved in but I cleaned almost the whole place (except for my bedroom, which I must do today), so that made for a nice change. Celebrating the small accomplishments helps us move on to the bigger ones. 

EVENTS 

The lessons I learned in 2025 were rough... for 7 months I felt like I was in some sort of loophole from hell. But I look back today and know most of them were necessary. When you become stagnant and feel undervalued and under-appreciated, it's time to move on to different things. As we become older, we become more fearful of change... or for those of us who just naturally fear change... we become even more scared of it. But change is what brought you to where you are and change will take you where you are supposed to be. So cheers to new opportunities but remember to look for them because they won't necessarily come and find you! 

Finishing a cycle is also something that I am now working on being grateful for. I chose to walk away from something I truly loved, something that meant the world for me. But if you don't really like the direction, then you are on the wrong track. It is easy to focus on the ones who bitterly disappointed me, it's even easier to waste energy on those who used me but let's just say this popped into my mind... 'my first, my last, my everything' and when I think about my first(s) Jenny and Valeria and my last Harashta, it fills me with so much pride and happiness that I think it was all worth it. Besides when I look at what it was like when I came in 2018 to now, I feel at peace knowing that I did everything I could to make it more respected and more respectful to the competitors. 

PEOPLE 

Everyone wants to hold your umbrella when the sun is shining and they run away when the rain comes. A very wily human being shared that with me over and over again. It proved to me true but it is also this exact person who stood by me during these months and I will always be grateful to this person and want to find my way, so I can make it up to them. 

I am also grateful to those who did not disappear, to those who still cared, to those who still checked in. So if you are one of them, thank you. Even if I don't necessarily know you in person, just THANK YOU! 

Finally, I am grateful that I can practice finding the voice I lost back. It's nice to be able to be able to think freely, feel freely and speak freely. It's something that should never be taken for granted. 

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you a blessed 2026.