The Power of Gratitude: Why It Changes Everything

Always Grateful

August 18, 2025

"Gratitude is the key to peace"

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude. Not just the word itself, but what it really means in my daily life. It’s funny, because for so long I thought gratitude was just about saying “thank you” or being polite. But now, I see it’s something that completely changes the way I move through the world.

I’ll never forget one morning I woke up feeling heavy, like I had this weight I couldn’t shake. Life expectancies were piling up, I was behind on emails, and my energy felt drained. I remember sitting at my kitchen table with a cup of tea that had already gone cold. Out of nowhere, I just looked out the window and noticed the way the trees were moving in the wind. It wasn’t anything grand, but for a moment, it made me breathe a little easier. That tiny moment became the start of something bigger. I now wake up every morning and stare at the trees playing in the wind because it brings me peace and allows me to sit and be thankful for all of the great things that I have in life.

Not long after that, I started writing down three things I was grateful for every night before bed in my journal. At first, it felt awkward, like I was forcing myself to come up with things. Sometimes my list looked silly: “tea, my favorite song on the radio, and finally finding matching socks (I really don’t care much about matching socks these days lol).” Over time, those little lists began to open my eyes. I started realizing that even on the hardest days, there was always something worth noticing, something that made me smile, even if just for a second.

One entry I remember so clearly was after a tough day. I cried in the car on the way home because my daughter was having a difficult time at her preschool at the time. We had a meeting and a discussion about moving her to a different school. This was one of the hardest decisions I had to make at the time because I had come to love all the teachers she had at this school. However, the new teacher admitted that she didn’t have the experience needed to care for a child with autism (she wasn’t an exceptional children’s teacher, and it wasn’t an EC classroom. My daughter had been doing amazing things in her previous class. It was when the routine changed that made everything change).

"You're still here. There's still good, even in the middle of the hard."

By the time I sat down with my journal, I felt completely drained. But I wrote: “I made it through today. I called my daughter’s care coordinator and she gave me great guidance. And I watched the sunset.” Looking back, it wasn’t about the size of the moments, it was about the shift in my focus. Gratitude became my way of telling myself: “You’re still here. There’s still good, even in the middle of the hard.”

It turned out that the hardest decision that I had to make ended up being the best decision. My daughter thrived at her new preschool. She was around peers who also shared some of the same experiences as she did. All her teachers were trained in special needs and she was placed in an exceptional children’s classroom. It was a major turning point for the better.

Now, gratitude feels like a quiet anchor in my life. It doesn’t erase stress or sadness, but it softens the edges. When I’m thankful, I listen better, I laugh easier, and I don’t cling so tightly to what’s missing. It’s like I’m choosing to live from a place of “enough” instead of “not enough.”

And honestly, it’s the little things that keep me grounded. The way my daughter curls up next to me when I’m writing. The sound of rain on a Sunday morning. The smile from a stranger at the grocery store (we are all family my local grocery store. I’m always greeted with a smile and short conversation when I walk in). These moments used to pass me by, but now they feel like tiny gifts

I think what gratitude has taught me most is presence. Life moves fast, and it’s easy to get caught up in what’s next. But gratitude reminds me to pause, to notice what’s already here, to soak it in before it slips away.

Tonight, before I close my journal, I know what I’ll write: “I’m grateful for the journey. For how far I’ve come. For the lessons tucked inside every twist and turn.” Gratitude hasn’t just changed my perspective…it’s changed me.

I hope this blog has found you in good spirits and that you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on gratitude. Just know that I am grateful for each and everyone of you who have stopped by my little corner of the website and supported this blog. Wishing everyone peace, abundance, and mamy blessings. Please check back weekly for my latest blogs. Some will be on the personal side such as this one and some will be about spreading awareness, as I am about spreading awareness. Until next time.

-Daphne Oh

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