I never thought I’d make it here, gratitude via /r/gratitude

There was a time not too long ago when I genuinely didn’t think I’d see another year. I felt like I was drowning in my own thoughts, constantly weighed down by fear, loneliness, and the belief that nothing would ever get better. I would go to bed hoping not to wake up, just so the heaviness would stop.

But tonight, as I sit here writing this, I realize I was wrong. Things did shift. Not in some magical, overnight way, but in small, fragile steps that somehow carried me forward. A kind smile from a stranger. A friend checked in even when I didn’t reply. Sunlight on a difficult morning. Tiny reasons to stay that eventually built into something I could hold on to.

I’m not “fixed.” I still struggle. But I feel alive in a way I never thought I would again. I make my coffee in the morning and actually taste it. I hear laughter and feel it soften something in me. I cry sometimes, but now it’s because I care, not because I want to disappear.

Today, I’m grateful that I stayed. I’m grateful for the people who saw something in me when I couldn’t. And most of all, I’m grateful to my past self, the one who kept going even when it hurt the most.

If you’re reading this and you feel like giving up, please believe me: the pain doesn’t last forever. Even if all you can do today is that’s enough. One day, you might look back, like I am now, and realize that staying was the bravest thing you ever did. ❤️