Embracing Gratitude in the Midst of Change

2024 has been a continuation of 2023. It has been full of ups and downs, highs and lows, wins and losses...

I decided to reflect on these things and put them to paper. Hence, this story.

Despite my challenges, I choose to be grateful. God has been present and kind even though it's painful right now.

My life doesn't stop there and thus, I shall continue.

Here's what I would like to share with you:

Personal reasons to be grateful for

Professional reasons to be grateful for

Personal Reasons to be Grateful for

First, I want to list my failures. This year I have failed as a husband and a father.

Earlier this year, I decided to divorce my wife. This started in 2023 and has continued to plague me to this day.

I'm grateful that God allowed me to learn this woman was not for me. I'm grateful for learning her priorities. These no longer align with our vision and goals as a married couple.

I'm grateful that my failure makes me angry. Anger gives me focus and a very much-needed drive. It also allows me to let go for it poisons my heart.

Along with failing my marriage, I have failed as a father. This year I planned to bring my sons to Hawaii to visit me. I'm a military service member stationed in the state of Hawaii. Thus, I either have to fly to see each of them or bring them here.

I chose to bring them here but failed to generate enough income to afford their travel. This is another thing that makes me angry, yet I'm grateful for it.

God allowed me to see that I needed to generate more income. My decisions have put me away from my sons. I have to pay the price of those decisions. Thus, I must do a lot more to make this happen.

The bottom line is that I have to produce more and serve more people. This is the only to generate more income. This is the number one thing that keeps me moving forward every day.

Professional Reasons to be Grateful for

Because of my failures above, I have to discipline myself to do more. This translates into money-making activities. These include running businesses, such as Turo, and writing services.

I'm grateful that I have generated $7,752.75 by listing two cars on Turo so far in 2024. I'm also grateful that I added another car to my inventory on Turo. This is a step closer to establishing an estate that can create and sustain wealth for my sons.

With that, I'm working on creating a living trust to protect my assets. This includes universal life insurance policies, businesses, and other investments. I'm grateful to learn of these tools. I do take it one step at a time, though.

And next step is expanding my writing services businesses. This model is still developing in my mind and notes. I do write and share my experiences with people on Medium.com and Vocal.Media.

I'm grateful that I have written and published a total of 259 stories on Medium.com. This earned me a total of $109.33 since November 2023.

I'm grateful that I have written and published a total of eight stories on Vocal.Media. This earned me a total of $0.01 since July 2024.

I'm grateful to have written and published two books in 2024. This earned me a total of $4.67 since July 2024.

Conclusion

In short, I have faced very few challenges. The difference of these challenges is the impact it has on my mental state. And for this, I'm grateful as well. God continues to allow me to grow into someone better.

I still have to remember that I must choose to learn. God can keep giving me trials and tribulations. It's up to me to decide to learn and do something different. I can always come back stronger as long as I choose to.

How about you? What are you grateful for?