I'm glad you made it to the end of the day.
Maybe you made it through a full days of work,
Errands,
Obligations,
Responsibilities,
Or maybe you couldn't move at all today.
Either way,
You're here and that is what matters.
I want to tell you something.
Many people will tell you that you need to be more thankful,
Have more gratitude,
But here's what they don't understand about women like you.
You don't need more gratitude.
That's not something you have to become.
It's who you already are.
Your heart is big and your intentions are strong.
Here's what nobody told you about gratitude.
You don't need more of it.
You don't need another journal prompt,
Another list to do,
Another assignment,
Another reminder to count your blessings.
You are already that thankful person that has never,
That's never been the problem.
In a world that never slows down,
Gratitude gets felt and dropped in the same breath.
It's not you.
It's a world that was never designed to let you be still.
The car starts,
You drive off.
The bank card goes through,
You grab your grocery bags.
The day ends and you fall into bed,
Scrolling or watching TV because we need escape.
You felt grateful in every single one of those moments for a split second and then you were already gone to the next task.
Gratitude is a muscle,
But we've been using it in a sprint.
We feel it,
Drop it,
Move on.
Feel it,
Drop it,
Move on.
Tonight we just stop.
We let it land.
We get comfortable now.
Let your body settle in.
Let your legs go heavy.
Let your shoulders drop all the way back further than you think they need to.
Let your hands open and unclench your jaw.
Take a slow breath in and let it go.
So it's not what gratitude is missing.
It's that we keep passing it without ever stopping to pick it up.
Gratitude is already a muscle you have.
We just need to be still long enough to use it.
And the more we use it,
The stronger that muscle becomes.
Tonight,
We're going to pick it up.
Take another breath in with me.
Now put your hand on your chest or on your stomach,
Whichever feels right.
Feel the rise and fall from your own breathing and say this quietly.
Thank you for carrying me today.
Not in a journal,
Not writing it down,
Not as an assignment,
But to yourself.
To this body that woke up and showed up in whatever way it possibly could.
That carried you all the way here,
Right now,
To the end of the day,
To this moment of rest.
This body deserves to be thanked,
Not pressured,
Not pushed,
Not compared to what it did yesterday or what it needs to do tomorrow.
Just thanked exactly as it is right now.
Because here's the truth.
You have lived a life that required a lot of strength,
A whole lot of figuring things out,
A pushing through and holding it together,
And not letting anyone else see you break.
And somewhere in all that strength,
Softness started to feel like luxury.
Rest started to feel like something you had to earn once you were done enough.
But here's what nobody's told you.
There is no finish line.
There will always be more on the list.
There will always be harder days.
There will always be uncertain days.
And if you wait until everything is handled and everything is fine,
And everything is resolved to give yourself permission to feel held,
You'll wait forever.
So tonight,
Right now,
I am giving you permission.
You don't have to have everything done today.
You don't have to move more.
You proved enough,
You handled enough.
You have to have gotten out of your bed.
Because here's the thing about women like you.
You survived a lot to be here.
And I just don't mean today.
I mean the bigger story.
The seasons that tried to take from you,
The moments that should have broken you,
The version of yourself you had to leave behind to become who you are right now,
Lying here,
Still breathing,
Still soft enough to need something gentle at the end of the day.
You are still here.
After everything,
You are still here.
Still moving when moving is possible.
Still resting when resting is all you have some days.
Still creating,
Still reaching,
Still choosing to take care of yourself in whatever small way today allowed.
That is everything.
As sleep begins to find you now,
Let these words just settle in,
Soft and slow.
I did what I could today and that's enough.
I'm already a thankful person.
Gratitude is really who I am when I am still.
My body carried me in whatever way it could and I am so grateful for that.
I don't have to earn rest.
I get to receive it.
Making it doesn't always look like movement.
Today,
I made it.
I survived a lot to be here and here is good.
After everything,
I'm still here.
Still held and I'm still grateful.
Rest right now.
Understand you don't need more gratitude.
We just need to be still.
You don't have to work harder to be thankful.
You already are.
We just need to be still.
To really feel those times.
You just need to stop long enough to feel what's been true all along.
That muscle building will give you energy.
It will give you happiness.
All of a sudden,
Your brain just becomes more creative and here it is right now in the quiet.
You are tired and you are supported.
Whether you moved mountains today or barely moved at all,
You made it to the end of this day and that means something.
You mean something.
Good night,
Queen.
