Daily Gratitude: “Celebrate effort and learning, not just outcomes. Progress is happening even when results aren’t visible get.”

I’ve been sitting with this idea for two weeks now – since I dropped from the race. I put pretty much everything I had into the past year getting ready for vol state 2026. After all, I had something to “prove”.

All that time. All that effort. And for what? I didn’t even come near finishing the race.

Was it all wasted? I’m not totally sure yet. But I don’t think so.

Sure I wanted to finish the race. I thought it might be my last. And i certainly wanted to show that my cruddy finish in 2025 wasn’t because of my age but because i made a mistake.

The most important thing I can do is figure out the lessons that came from that year of obsession, not to focus on the fact that I didn’t succeed. If I can ferret out the lessons, there will be sustained value regardless of the outcome.

What did i learn from the process? What progress did that process (or processes) make? How can i, or have I, apply these lessons to everyday life? All that we gain and learn is much more valuable if it’s something we can apply day in and day out, not just once.

I need to dissect the year and pull the nuggets. That will make the effort worthwhile no matter the outcome.

How can you apply this in your life? What have you learned as you’ve plodded and plotted in your attempts?

Daily Gratitude: “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

What a great way to say that you should be proud of little “accomplishments”, no matter how tiny.

What is important is to be continually working toward becoming a better version of yourself. It’s not that hard to do and as with all change, the smaller the steps, the easier it is to keep the change going.

Why are small steps good? For a lot of reasons. A small step is easier to grasp in your mind. It’s not so intimating that you hold your hands up and say “whoa. I can’t do that”.

For instance if you want to start a walking program, your small step could be putting on shorts or shoes or maybe even “gasp” both. OR it could be just opening the front door and stepping outside. That’s it. You can give yourself a gold star. And do this for a few days in a row and see what happens. What’s the next small step you end up taking. If you’re still stuck at step one, come up with another tiny one.

Small steps are often so small that no one else will recognize it as something important – other than you of course. That should remove a lot of the fear of judgment. You know. The “What will people think” or “what will people say” phenomenon that takes over your mind instead of the joy of trying something new.

Pick out one thing you think would make you a better person. Perhaps it’s giving at least one compliment every day (sure you could say “I should give 50 compliments a day” and maybe even that would be great- but what’s the probability you’re going to do it every day?). So stick to one.

Or maybe you ultimately want to stop complaining. That’s too vague a statement. How can you make it doable? Maybe something like “the first time I start to complain today, I will say “stop” and pause for a minute. During that minute analyze what you REALLY were complaining about, what you were feeling, what you secretly were wanting. All those thoughts and feelings that lie behind your complaint. And Just once is all you need as your aim for the day.

Once you’ve decided, write it on an index card or a piece of paper and put that in your kitchen by the first thing you go to – Perhaps your coffee pot or cup. Or maybe your refrigerator.

The point is to see it early in the morning. Read it and put it in your mind. Then go about your business.

See what happens. I bet you’ll be surprised at the results.

Daily Gratitude: “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

If you think back on your life and examine the scars on both your soul and your body, you’ll see the truth of this quote.

The areas on your skin where you have scars are often the strongest. It seems that the healing process knows that this area might be susceptible to further injury so it wants to keep it strong. Of course it’s more complicated than that but it’s a simple way to think of it.

If your heart has never been wrung out from loss, it doesn’t know what to feel or how to deal with it. But once it’s happened, the next time really is easier even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. And when you can think clearly again, you can even benefit from the lessons it taught you.

You are most likely a much stronger person than you realize. So in some ways you might want to be grateful for the suffering you’ve endured. It will help you put things in perspective. And remember that gratitude is powerful and will help you endure whatever struggles you may encounter.

As usual i recommend taking an inventory and finding your scars and then figuring out how those scars have strengthened you!