Gratitude, faith and courage.

“When faith and courage meet, the world changes.”

Unknown (but it is posted above my bathroom sink to remind me)

I wake up each day trying to practice gratitude. Today I will try even harder to appreciate and not complain about the little things. To find positive over negative. I will start by appreciating faith and courage. Today seems to be a good day for this focus.

I remember the first few months that I was on my own thinking, how am I going to do all the things I want to do? I had a limited income as I had never truly focused on a career before. But I was now free to do and experience what I wanted. Which was to travel. I really wanted to travel. I also wanted to own a modestly nice home. A nice car. With the features I wanted and not someone else. But all of these things took more than my limited income could cover. I sadly thought that the only way I would have financial freedom would be if I met someone that was financially stable. That was stupid. And I hated that I was so ready to depend on someone again. Once again, I was wrong.

What happened after is still something that causes me to pause and wonder in amazement. And what happened after is not one thing. Not one event or one occurrence. It was a string of days, months and years that came together simply because I decided that I could do all the things I wanted to do and have all the things I wanted to have. And I didn’t need anyone else to achieve my goals. It was all up to me. No one was stopping me. The ceiling, my ceiling, was shattered.

What happened was, I began to believe. To have faith. In me. I started by setting my mind to ask ‘why not?’ instead of ‘why?’. And things started happening. My income increased because I said it should. An opportunity to join a successful part time business presented itself. I started getting requests for custom artwork again. Things just started to happen. All because I believed.

Sounds easy but it was not. Just believe. Two simple words that took an immense amount of courage to say. To trust. To have faith. It all takes courage. I stood with my head held high and I believed that I could do whatever I set my mind to do. And it didn’t just fall in my lap. It didn’t appear one day and bam! Life got better. It took patience and hard work. It took putting myself out there to be open to change. To be on the battlefield ready. To face fear and vulnerability. But I stood my ground and I walked forward. I didn’t charge. It wasn’t really a battlefield. I walked forward on steady feet. And even when they weren’t steady… I stumbled forward. Always forward.

Faith and courage. And gratitude. So much gratitude.