Today, I am grateful for where my life is going. With its many ups and downs, I never thought that everything would be going so well one day, and this morning, while I was walking through yet another beautiful new city at the other side of the world, I suddenly realized that I should stop and look back once in a while, to see how far I’ve actually come.
I am grateful to have people in my life who support and even share my dreams, no matter how silly or far out of reach.
I am grateful to have a place I can call home, even if it’s just for a year, and that it’s a beautiful home, and in good company, in a street full of trees, with friendly neighbors and a little terrace and natural light in every room.
I am grateful that I get to live a life I never even dared to dream of.
I am grateful that my body enables me to walk, see, listen, taste, dance and run so easily I hardly ever notice, even after I treated her with so much hate and shame when I was younger.
I am grateful for my amazing friends and family, who are all doing so well in their own way, and who support me when I need them, no matter where in the world I decided to move this time.
I am grateful that my passport and my skin color allow me to travel to almost any country I want, and that despite this unearned privilege, the people I meet around the world are so welcoming and kind.
I am grateful to have someone in my life who teaches me how to love myself even though I make mistakes and feel anxious about silly things and refuse to ask for help when I should and struggle to admit when I’m wrong and don’t often actually say that I’m grateful.
I am grateful to know women I look up to, who are so brave and full of love, even in a world with so much war and poverty and violence, who dare to speak up against injustice, and who will always keep fighting for others, no matter what it takes.
I am grateful to know men who take me seriously as a woman, who appreciate me for my character and not my body, who try to listen to my struggles as a woman in this world, even though they might never fully understand.
I am grateful that I was brought up learning to have respect for everyone and curiosity for everything, because there is so much we can learn from other people and different cultures.
I am grateful for how beautiful and colorful and powerful wild nature can be, for the amazing landscapes I had the chance to see, and for all the gorgeous animals I have encountered.
I am grateful for the people I can share all of these experiences with.
I am grateful to be alive, not just to be healthy but to be able to be so fully, intensely, actively, actually living.
What are you grateful for? Today is a good day to think about it!
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