Grateful for the Paths That Shape Us

As Thanksgiving approaches, I've been thinking about gratitude — not the shiny, picture-perfect version we sometimes feel pressured to display, but the real kind. The kind that grows out of everything life has handed us, even the parts we once wished we could fast-forward through.

When I look back on my life — the moves across countries, raising three incredible gifted children, the losses, the heartbreaks, the reinventions, the quiet moments when I wasn't sure what came next — I see now how deeply those experiences shaped me.

At the time, many of them felt heavy. But today, I’m grateful for every one of them.

Each challenge, each turning point, each moment I sat with myself wondering what now? shaped the way I hold space for others today. Without those chapters, I wouldn’t be able to listen the way I do. I wouldn’t know what it means to sit with someone in their uncertainty or their overwhelm — not trying to fix them, not telling them how to be, but simply being with them while they find their way forward.

This work — offering people a quiet, safe, pressure-free place to talk things through — is something I feel deeply grateful for. I’m honored each time someone trusts me enough to bring their truth, their questions, or their tangled-up thoughts into our conversations. And I’m grateful for the moments of clarity, relief, and softness that unfold for them in that space.

But I’m just as grateful for the people in my own life who have held space for me.

We often think gratitude has to be loud or public. But some of the deepest gratitude lives in the quiet moments — the friend who listens without rushing you, the relative who checks in at just the right time, or even the moments when we sit with ourselves and gently sort through our own thoughts.

And yes — talking things through with ourselves matters, too.
But sometimes we need someone outside our own mind.
Someone steady. Someone kind. Someone who doesn’t judge or push or hurry.

I’ve been lucky enough to have those people in my life. And it’s a privilege to be that person for others.

This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the paths that shaped me, the people who have supported me, and the people who have allowed me to support them. I’m grateful for every story shared, every moment of clarity, and every breath someone has taken in relief when they finally felt understood.

Wherever this season finds you — whether life feels light or a little heavy — I hope you find a moment of gentleness. A moment of gratitude that feels real. A moment to breathe.

And if you ever need someone to talk things through with, I’m here.

If this season feels like a lot to hold, you’re welcome to talk it through with me.
You can book a conversation here.

Photo by Ann - Unsplash