As we approach the end of the year, I find myself looking back on what has been an extraordinary journey, filled with challenges, growth, and gratitude. Since early 2021, I’ve embraced the practice of daily journaling to focus on what makes me happy and what I’m grateful for. Now, at the close of 2024, a year that tested me in countless ways, since 2021 I’ve filled 16 journals, one per quarter, and I’m preparing to start a new one.

This year, for the first time, I revisited my journals from the past year. My goal was to create a list of the struggles and obstacles I faced, and while that list was significant, I discovered something even more powerful: an overwhelming record of joy, gratitude, and resilience.

Despite the losses, health scares, and moments of burnout, my journals revealed that my days were also filled with countless moments that brought me happiness, big and small. For every “WTF” moment, there were so many more instances of light and positivity. These moments didn’t just brighten my days; they strengthened me. They helped me process grief, reduce stress, and feel thankful for the people and experiences still in my life.

Here’s what my reflection taught me:

• Challenges and struggles: Over the course of the year, I documented 31 major events that brought stress, grief, or hardship. These moments were impactful, sometimes leaving me feeling overwhelmed or emotionally drained.
• Moments of happiness: On the other hand, I recorded an average of 100 things that made me happy each month, a total of approximately 1,200 moments of joy for the year.
• Gratitude practice: Each day, I identified at least three things I was grateful for. By the end of the year, that totaled 1,095 expressions of gratitude.

The sheer contrast between these numbers was eye-opening. While those 31 challenges had their weight, the 1,200 happy moments and 1,095 gratitude entries served as a powerful counterbalance. They reminded me that joy, no matter how small, can accumulate into something transformative. They didn’t erase the hardships, but they softened their edges, minimized their impact, and gave me the strength to keep moving forward.

As I prepare to start a new journal, I carry this lesson with me: no matter how hard life gets, there is always something to be grateful for, something to make you smile. And when you consciously seek out those moments, they become the foundation of your resilience.

Here’s to a new year of finding joy, gratitude, and strength in every single day.