Gratitude is such a powerful, yet often misunderstood practice, especially when we’re desperate and trying to heal from times when we’ve been scared or felt all alone. Here’s the thing: when we’re in the thick of fear and loneliness, it can feel like being caught in the middle of a storm with no shelter in sight. We feel completely disconnected—cut off from others and, maybe most painfully, from ourselves. When we’re in that space, just trying to survive, the idea of gratitude can feel distant, almost impossible, right? But here’s what I want you to know: gratitude isn’t about pretending everything is fine when it clearly isn’t. It’s not about denying your pain or pushing away the hard feelings. Gratitude is about noticing the small moments of grace that show up, even when things feel unbearably hard. It’s about saying, “Yes, I’m scared. Yes, I feel alone. But maybe, just maybe, there’s still something here for me to hold on to, no matter how small.” In moments of desperation, when you feel like you have nothing left to give, practicing gratitude can help you reclaim a sense of control. Instead of being swallowed up by everything that’s gone wrong, you start to notice what’s still within you—your strength, your courage, the resilience you’ve built, even when you thought you couldn’t take one more step. That small flicker of hope? That’s yours. You’ve made it through before, and you can make it through again. Healing isn’t about forcing yourself to be positive all the time—it’s about allowing yourself to feel everything, and in the middle of that, recognizing that there is still good to be found. Gratitude lets us hold both the pain and the grace at the same time. Gratitude becomes the bridge that brings us home. It’s the thing that reminds us we’re still human, still standing, and still capable of healing. And maybe, as we look back on those moments when we felt completely alone, we start to realize that we weren’t as alone as we thought. No matter how broken you feel, no matter how scared you are, there is always something worth holding on to. And that’s where the healing begins.