Life is a tricky thing, isn't it? To say it isn't would simply be a lie. It's a confusing thing, something I never can really wrap my head around. Yet, I always spend countless hours trying to do so.

We didn't ask to be here, yet we are. Some days, that is a wonderful blessing and some days it can feel like a curse, but we are here and we are very much needed here. We aren't what happened to us, but how we choose to overcome it. We didn't ask to be here, but now that we are, how will we create impact, legacy, and kind change?

We may all have different struggles, lives, and moments of hurt and happiness, but at our core we are very similar. We search for meaning, we feel lonely, we feel confused, we feel lost, and we wonder if we are doing enough. Even the richest, at least the honest rich, will tell you they crave meaning, connection and fulfillment. Yet, some of the poorest people I have met seem to have the fulfilment and connection perfected to a tee. Yet, money is the key to happiness? I'm never sure what the answers are, I just take note of what I experience, who I meet, and the impacts those around me have on me.

I think a major key to happiness, if not the main key, is being thankful for what you have and who you are in the now. Not just saying you're thankful, or trying to convince yourself you're thankful, but truly being thankful. To be connected to the life you live, what you have, and you are in this very moment. If we look back five years ago, look how far you've come despite ups and downs, pandemics, and more.

Gratitude is deeply connected to being at peace and finding fulfillment in our life. When we get into the topic of social media, reality television shows and more, we enter a world where what we have will never be enough, and what we are doing will never be enough. It hurts us, it drives us to comparison, and makes us believe we aren't doing enough with our life, or that materalistically we aren't meeting the standards.

Comparison creates unhappiness and unfulfillment in your life. Spending on materialistic things to seem a certain way, only leads you down a financial path you one day will be unable to escape from. Comparing your body, skills, relationships and education to those around you, will only make you feel as if yours aren't enough. Yet, who you are will always be enough. The life you want to live, and the moment you are in now, will always be enough.

As I said before, life is a tricky thing, but there are ways to love ourselves, the life we have, and the people we have in it, a little more. Connect yourself to those who love you, follow your heart, and live your purpose through even the smallest of things.