Continue 2025 With a Grateful Heart

Hello and welcome to 2025, friends!

I am always so happy to see a new year come in, as it represents a clean slate—a fresh chapter in life. I feel excited, hopeful, and ready to explore this uncharted territory! And to be honest, I was so ready to see 2024 make its exit, because whewwwww....it did me in, y'all. It was a heavy season of failures, mistakes, and difficult lessons to learn. Not only that, I experienced loss in more ways than one, so I spent a considerable amount of time grieving and putting myself back together last year.

Annnnddd to top it off, I discovered that I have some sort of autoimmune disorder (not 100 percent sure what yet), adding to the list of chronic conditions that I already have. Most of my days I am feeling unwell; rarely ever am I not in pain or some kind of discomfort, so that really, really sucks. Many days I would do nothing but cry because I was just sooooo over it.

Despite everything I had going on, I knew I didn't want to end the year being angry and bitter, so I decided to shift my mindset from thinking negatively to being more positive. I chose to welcome 2025 with a heart that's full of gratitude. Why? Because when I focused on the good, my perspective on life seemed better. Gratitude helped me to see the positive aspects of my life that I overlooked due to my pessimistic view.

Sure, I have crappy health, but I am not terminally ill. Yes, I lost friends I thought would be around forever, but those who truly love and value me are still by my side. I was let go from one of my jobs, but it was a blessing in disguise because that work environment was toxic and mentally exhausting—I got a new job with much better pay and the work is more fulfilling. God worked it out for me, even though I didn't see it at the time.

The point of this post? I want to encourage you, my amazing readers, to continue 2025 with a grateful heart. Get into the habit of expressing gratitude for all of what you are fortunate to have, and you'll see a positive difference. Let go of the bad energy in 2024 and strive to make 2025 one that is full of success, happiness, and growth. This new year is a chance to dream bigger, love yourself harder, and live your best life—focus on that.

Let’s make 2025 our best yet—are you with me?