Thanksgiving Gratitude

There are years when gratitude comes easily.

This is not one of those years.

Some seasons stretch you thin.

Some seasons take more than they give.

And when this holiday rolls around, with all its smiling stock photos and table perfect expectations, it can feel like everyone else knows something you do not.

If that is where you are today, I want to say this plainly.

There is nothing wrong with you.

Gratitude is not a performance.

It is not a moral test.

It is not a prize you earn by pretending life is softer than it really is.

Sometimes gratitude is nothing more than noticing the smallest thing that did not fall apart.

A warm drink.

A quiet minute.

Someone who checked on you.

A moment when your breath did not hurt.

A piece of yourself you thought was gone, stirring again.

Sometimes gratitude is simply the truth that you made it through a day you did not know how to face.

And sometimes it is the fact that you are still here, still trying, still choosing to care in a world that does not always care back.

That counts.

That always counts.

If today feels heavy, let it be heavy.

If your heart feels tired, let it rest.

You do not have to force thankfulness into the shape of a celebration.

Just find one tiny thing that feels real.

One thing you can hold without faking it.

The warmth of your hands.

The way the morning light sits on the floor.

The comfort of something familiar.

The quiet knowledge that this season will not last forever.

Gratitude does not have to be bright.

Sometimes it is soft, almost invisible.

Sometimes it is the whisper inside you that says,

you made it another day.

And for now, that is enough.