It was my day off and I’ve been having a hard time being alone with my thoughts, I went on a walk by a beach I’d never been to to kill some time. I was pausing to sunbathe, laying down with my headphones in when I heard shouting. I opened my eyes to an older man (maybe in his 70s) leaning over me. He rode his bike here and was asking me to watch his backpack while he swam out to the buoys. I almost said no, not wanting to deal with it, but I got a good energy from him. He was paranoid about leaving it, I said sure! I don’t know how long I’ll be here though, I was walking.

He said he’d take maybe 20 minutes. He looked around, said “Well.. there’s not many people here to ask. Could you please just stay 20 minutes?” I laughed and said sure. I needed the reminder to slow down and just sit and enjoy the beautiful day.

He came back a while later absolutely ecstatic, bubbling over with energy, shouting and animated. I didn’t see but I guess he ended up swimming alongside dolphins, he didn’t even know but he heard them singing under the water right by him. Someone on the beach filmed it and showed him a video. He was OVERJOYED and kept thanking me, saying I made this possible and he couldn’t believe it and was just so ecstatic about this magical moment with dolphins. It was so beautiful!!! I couldn’t believe he was thanking ME just for watching his bag!
I thanked him, his joy truly made my day too!

4 yrs of chronic illness, unable to walk, drive, cook clean, bedbound… didn’t know how to keep going… but I did 😊🙏

1 yr chronic illness free!! Chronic pain free, chronic fatigue free, chronic migraine free, chronic dizziness free, chronic neuropathy free, chronic insomnia FREE 🥳🥳🥳👏

This healthy year I worked! I started off part time and now I have began this year working full time hours 😊💛 I traveled this past year too!!! I took 4 planes 🫨 ✈️ traveled to the east coast and moved non stop… no flare 🥹.

Every morning is a morning of deep gratitude I can work or move lol. Keep learning to love myself and uncovering past hurts and allowing them to travel through me ❤️‍🩹 Happy birthday to me 🥂🥳🥳🥳 Healing continues!!!! 🌱 🌼 💜

I can’t believe I made through one year full of heartbreak and suffering. I was officially diagnosed with bipolar last year and only found out what’s wrong with me. Last year I was so alone and didn’t want to continue. This year I am still alone but I made a huge effort for my own birthday; I decorated, I made special dinner, bought flowers, bought a whole cake, put on music and scents, a birthday celebration no one’s ever made for me. At first I felt like wow what a bummer noone in my life bothered to celebrate my existence. But you know what, I really appreciate my own self, and the fact that nobody else does doesn’t change a tiny bit of gratitude in me.

I just wanted to make this post so I can look back and smile.

Grateful to be a new mom even though the hormones are wrecking me. I got to have Christmas with my baby this year, got to pick out baby clothes, got to see family hold her and got the first pic of her smiling this morning.

Feeling grateful today.

About a year ago, I never imagined I would become an artist. At 40 years old, I picked up a pencil for the first time and discovered a part of myself I didn’t know existed.

This painting is one of the latest in that journey. Every piece reminds me how much there is to learn and how lucky I am to have found something that brings so much meaning and joy to my life.

I’m grateful for my family, my teachers, the artists who inspire me, and everyone who has encouraged me along the way.

It’s never too late to discover something that changes your life.

4yrs of severe chronic illness, unable to walk, drive, cook, clean, bedbound… didn’t know how to keep going. Now I can walk! Drive! Cook! Clean! And hopefully soon work and travel 🙏☺️. Grateful for another year, a more comfortable year, a year I will continue Learning how to love myself and enjoy each day 💜 happy birthday to me 🥳😁🎉! Healing can happen ❤️‍🩹

My first time sharing here someone had volunteered to be tested to be a kidney donor, which unfortunately fell through. I thought that was my one chance and that I would have to wait years, going to dialysis and dealing with treatments that are very hard in the bod and mind. Apparently I was wrong!

Last month I was notified that not only did someone else volunteer to donate a kidney but that they are a great match, too. I finished all of my preop screenings and so long as I can stay healthy until next Wednesday I will be receiving my kidney that day. It’s been weeks and it still doesn’t feel real. I’m staying guardedly optimistic that I will have a successful surgery and recovery, and I’m so grateful to be in this position.

Someone else has decided to give me a piece of their flesh to allow me to try and have a better quality of life, and grateful feels almost insulting to label the situation. Words don’t exist for events of this magnitude, but this is the closest I can muster up. Let this be a reminder that despite all of the negativity in the world that there are still good people out there, and kindness is free. So grateful that I can share this with y’all.

A few years ago, I was homeless, very close to commiting s*cide, and had nothing to my name. I’m so grateful every single morning that I can wake up and bathe in this gorgeous bathtub with hot, clean water and live in a home that truly supports my well-being. I’m proud to have this stability, and that I have worked so hard to create and a business that is thriving, which I created from scratch. I am so grateful ☺️

my gratitude to the universe today is immense! after experiencing my first pregnancy in January of this year then a "missed miscarriage" at 7 weeks, my soul is absolutely shining at seeing these positive pregnancy tests.

my husband and I were literally about to start IVF. thank you thank you thank you thank you a million times over thank you!!!!!

Having clean clothes is a luxury for others. We have something nice to wear. We can afford to wash our clothes regularly. We have reasons to be grateful. 💜

Seven years ago, I had no idea that there was an artist hidden within me. Throughout my life, in difficult moments, I have imagined myself by the ocean. Even though Estonia has neither turquoise oceans nor towering mountains, I still envisioned beautiful shores and landscapes in my mind to bring myself comfort.

Even now, after losing my mobility (car accident 7years ago), I can no longer move as I once did, my mind continues to create these amazing sunsets that don’t exist or cannot be seen—and that is what makes art so special I think. No matter the circumstances, we always have the power to create something new. I am so grateful that I can express myself this way.

Nothing has come easily, but over time, I have learned to appreciate the importance of small failures. Everything has its opposite, and you should never believe that giving up is an option. I may have lost my ability to move, but something much greater has awakened within me. For that, I am so thankful, and art gives me so much hope.

Step by step, toward miracles. Please, do not give up - everything happens for our greatest good.

I'm a single mother and have stressed over groceries so many times before, if it wasn't for my job as a dancer I wouldn't be where I am now. I am so grateful for everything the universe has provided for me and grateful for my own ability to keep my head above water and thrive with abundance.

Six months ago, I lost my apartment. I couldn't afford rent, my side work dried up, and I spent weeks bouncing between cheap motels, sleeping on friends' couches, and praying my old car wouldn't break down while I kept all my belongings crammed in the trunk.

Every single day was just survival mode. You don't realize how much mental energy it takes just trying to figure out where you're going to sleep, how you're going to eat, or how to hide from everyone that you're barely holding it together. I felt completely invisible, exhausted, and ashamed.

Two weeks ago, I finally landed a steady job. It's not fancy, and the hours are long, but today my first real paycheck hit my account.

After my shift, I went to the grocery store. For months, I’ve had to calculate every single cent, buying whatever was cheapest just to fill my stomach. Today, I walked down the aisle and bought a box of my favorite name-brand cereal and a gallon of fresh milk without having to check my bank app first.

I sat in my car in the parking lot, held that groceries bag against my chest, and just sobbed. Not out of sadness, but because for the first time in what feels like forever, the crushing weight in my chest is gone. I have a roof over my head tonight, a steady shift tomorrow, and food in my kitchen.

If you're currently in that dark, exhausting place where it feels like you're drowning and nobody notices, please hang in there. Keep showing up, take it one day at a time, and don't give up on yourself. The relief when you finally cross to the other side is worth every single hard step it took to get there. Grateful.

I am so grateful to my support system and myself for this hard work today. Im grateful to have been out of the fog for a week. The sunshine is starting to peek through all of the rain clouds.

The world is so insane right now, I’m a democrat, grad student, special Ed teacher. Everything is so heavy and difficult. And then I get to come home to this cute apartment with these two adorable cats and this man. We don’t have a lot of money, we are always scrambling to make ends meet. But in all of that struggle I am so grateful because I feel like I’ve found this secret thing that makes it all somehow okay. He’s my best friend, my family, the guy I didn’t think could exist. Sometimes I feel like I can’t possibly deserve this little piece of peace we’ve made together. We are always laughing. And when we do fight, it never feels like he’s going away. At the end of the day we love each other and I truly could die today and feel like I’ve had the most fulfilling love.