How we begin our day matters. Waking up with a positive attitude and feeling grateful for the gift of another day can set the tone for everything that follows. Not every day will be perfect, but every day gives us another chance to live, to love, to grow, and to find something worth being thankful for.
Gratitude has a way of changing what we see. When we begin each day appreciating what we have and end it counting our blessings, life can feel a little lighter and a lot more meaningful.
Begin each day with gratitude and end it counting your blessings.
Somewhere along the way, we started labeling ourselves by what happened to us.
The divorced woman.
The grieving husband.
The cancer patient.
The abandoned child.
The parent with an estranged son or daughter.
The person who lost everything.
But what if we looked at it differently? What if instead of defining ourselves by the storm, we defined ourselves by the fact that we made it through?
Think about your life for a moment.
Maybe you’ve buried people you loved or sat in a doctor’s office waiting for test results.
Maybe you’ve survived a divorce, betrayal, addiction, financial hardship, loneliness, depression, or heartbreak and there were days you weren’t sure how you would make it to tomorrow.
Yet here you are, breathing, living and reading these words.
You survived, not because it wasn’t hard, or that it didn’t hurt and knocked to your knees.
You survived because somehow, some way, you got back up.
We spend so much time calling ourselves victims of our circumstances that we forget the truth: victims stay trapped in the story.
Survivors keep writing new chapters.
That doesn’t mean the scars disappear or the memories stop hurting. It simply means the difficult thing didn’t get the final say.
You did.
The next time you find yourself replaying everything you’ve been through, pause and ask yourself one question: ‘Am I still here?’ If the answer is yes, then congratulations. You survived 100% of your worst days.
And that makes you something far more powerful than a victim. It makes you a survivor.
Life has been a little quiet here… but not because there’s nothing to say.
It’s because life has been full.
Full of movement, full of change, and yes… full of travel.
At 65, I’ve found myself saying yes to things I once put off. Trips I dreamed about. Places I thought I’d get to “someday.” And somewhere along the way, someday quietly turned into now.
There’s something about this stage of life that feels different. Less waiting. Less wondering. More doing. More seeing. More living. And more adventures!
I’m realizing that the life I once gave so much of to others now has room for me again.
And I’m filling it—one trip, one experience, one beautiful moment at a time.
This is what it looks like to come back to yourself.
As I sit here on the very first day of 2026, on a quiet Thursday afternoon, I can feel it:
hope, gratitude, excitement and a sense of peace I didn’t know I was capable of.
Last year wasn’t easy. I lost my mom, and that grief changed me in ways I’m still learning to understand, yet in the middle of that heartbreak, family found its way back to me. Doors I thought were long closed opened again. Love showed up in places I never expected and I’m grateful for that.
I also lost a very good friend, gone without conversation, explanation, or closure, and while it hurt, I chose to thank them anyway. I thanked them for the years we shared, even if they never responded because sometimes people leave without warning and we may never know why. Sometimes endings don’t come with answers. Sometimes they just come.
But here’s the thing:
With endings come beginnings.
With heartbreak comes clarity.
With loss comes room for something new.
And today, on 1/1/2026, I choose to see the good that grew from the hard. I choose gratitude for what was, hope for what’s becoming, and excitement for what’s waiting for me just beyond the horizon of this brand new year.
My mantra for 2026?
“Kiss it up to God and hand it over to the universe…and keep going.”
Here’s to a year of believing in myself, trusting the journey, loving the lessons, and welcoming every beautiful beginning that’s meant for me.
Happy New Year, my friends.
May 2026 be gentle with us, bold for us, and full of magic we never saw coming.
Sundays have a way of reminding us to slow down – no matter what the weather is doing.
Here in Florida, the rain is settling in and up north the cold is creeping closer… but there’s something beautiful about it all. Maybe today is the perfect day to embrace whatever’s outside your window and create a little peace inside your heart.
So curl up with a soft blanket, watch your favorite holiday movie, sip something warm and let yourself just “be.”
Rain or snow, warmth or chill, there’s always a little bit of magic tucked inside a quiet Sunday afternoon.
Here’s to finding comfort in the coziness and joy in the simple moments.
There’s something beautiful about evenings in December. Maybe it’s the soft music playing in the background, or the glow of the lights on the tree…or maybe it’s simply the reminder that peace is something we can choose, even on the busiest of days.
Today, I’m choosing to breathe a little deeper.
To slow down.
To find joy in the small, quiet moments that make this season so magical.
It doesn’t take much to shift the energy of your day – just a peaceful morning, a quiet evening, a grateful heart and a little faith that things are all falling into place.
Here’s to choosing calm.
Here’s to choosing hope.
Herpes to a beautiful December day and a peaceful December evening.
I love the first day of the month, no matter the month. It’s a feeling from childhood of the excitement of the first day of school, or how you felt on Christmas morning, not knowing what “Santa” brought you. The memories of those emotions always come back to me on the first of each month because there’s an excitement of not knowing what the month will bring. It’s as if we’re given another month to get things right or do them better than the month before.
It’s a new month with no mistakes in it. It’s a new month to change things, to do things differently, or to do what it takes to live your best life.
Here’s to the new month of July and all that it can bring to you…to all of us.
Welcome this first day of July with open arms, a delicious iced coffee and a mindset that this month will be filled with all that you want!
Life is filled with endless possibilities and with each new month there’s a renewed sense of gratitude for receiving the gift of another month to live your best life.
Sometimes you have to write yourself a “permission slip.” Remember those back in grade school? They were the ones your parents wrote for your teacher or school telling them that you had permission to leave early, or permission to attend a class trip. It seems so long ago yet as adults I think we need to write one to ourselves.
I’m home by myself this week. Eight days and seven nights of “alone” time and it’s been good for me. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of travel and my oldest and daughter-in-law came for a visit, so this time was much needed and well deserved.
And during this time, I realized something sacred: “I can.”
I can say no to what drains me.
I can say yes to what lights me up.
I can order takeout without guilt.
I can write when I feel called to.
I can nap if I need to.
I can breathe deeply.
I can be gentle with myself.
I can say: “This is my time.”
This is the freedom that we often forget that we’re allowed to take. Balance isn’t about doing it all, it’s about knowing when to shift, when to rest and when to rise.
Write yourself a permission slip. Remember that this is your time. Live a life of “I can!”
Gratitude isn’t just for the good days. It’s for the messy ones. It’s for the mornings when the coffee spills, the text you hoped for doesn’t come, or when your heart feels heavier than you had wanted it to.
It’s for the days when all you can say is, “At least I’m still here.”
Sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is whisper “thank you” in the middle of the storm.
Find one thing today, one tiny thing, and hold onto it like a lifeline.
This morning I woke up a little differently than yesterday. Today I woke up as an 11 year breast cancer survivor.
Today I woke up with more gratitude than usual, a gratitude filled with more happiness and smiles, love and laughter. Today I count another year of blessings as a survivor.
Today is a day I pray that I continue to celebrate every year.
Today I remember the journey of my breast cancer and the faith that I had to get through it.
Today I remember the people who helped me through my journey. Their love and support is something I will be eternally grateful for and they know who they are!
And today my thoughts and prayers are with those going through their own journey with breast cancer.
Gratitude is definitely in the house more than usual today.
Anne Dennish - Writer/Author 