Everyone's posting their beautiful gratitude lists with sunsets and family photos and inspiring quotes. And here's mine: I'm grateful for hot showers. Like, genuinely, deeply grateful that I can stand under hot water when everything feels like too much.
I'm grateful for products that don't make my skin angry. I'm grateful for the mute button on Zoom calls. I'm grateful for the delete draft email option. I'm grateful that my body kept going even when I wasn't being kind to it.
Gratitude doesn't have to be Instagram-worthy to be real.
Here's the thing about gratitude when you're burned out: The small stuff matters more than the profound stuff. The tiny things that made hard days survivable matter more than the big blessings you're "supposed" to be thankful for.
The Gratitude List Nobody Posts
Okay, so here's what I'm actually grateful for this year. Not the pretty version. The real one.
I'm grateful for hot showers. For the fact that when everything is overwhelming, I can lock the bathroom door and stand under hot water and nobody can ask me for anything for fifteen minutes.
I'm grateful for shower steamers with eucalyptus. Not because they're fancy, but because they turned a functional hygiene task into something that actually helps me breathe – both literally and metaphorically.
I'm grateful for soap that doesn't wreck my skin. For finally having products I can trust won't make my face angry or my hands crack or add one more problem to my already-too-long list.
I'm grateful for the people who say "me too." Who hear my struggles and don't immediately try to fix me or tell me it could be worse or suggest I just need to be more positive.
I'm grateful for my bed. Like, specifically grateful for the fact that it's there at the end of every terrible day, waiting for me.
I'm grateful I can't fake it anymore. That my body literally won't let me push through like I used to. That I've been forced to change because I couldn't keep destroying myself.
I'm grateful for boundaries. Even though they're uncomfortable and people don't always understand them. I'm grateful I finally learned to say no.
I'm grateful for delete buttons. On emails, texts, social media posts I almost sent when I was too angry or tired to think clearly.
I'm grateful for products I can make myself. For the knowledge that I don't have to keep buying things that don't work. That I have the skills to create what I actually need. (And if you want those skills too, check out the soap recipes – because this empowerment is available to you.)
I'm grateful for coffee. Even when it gets cold before I finish it. Even when I have to reheat it three times. The fact that it exists at all feels like a small miracle on hard days.
I'm grateful for the clients who trust me with their stories. Who tell me about their struggles and let me walk beside them while they figure things out.
I'm grateful that struggling doesn't mean failing. That I finally understand the difference.
That's my list. Notice what's not on it? Big, profound, Instagram-worthy things. No sunsets or inspirational moments or major life events.
Just the small stuff that helped me survive hard days. And honestly? That matters more.
Why Small Gratitude's Count More Than You Think
Here's what I finally figured out: When you're overwhelmed, grateful for small comforts isn't settling for less. It's recognizing what actually matters.
The hot shower didn't fix my burnout. But it gave me fifteen minutes where I could breathe.
The gentle soap didn't solve my skin problems entirely. But it stopped adding to them.
The bath salts didn't cure my stress. But they made evenings slightly more bearable.
These small things created tiny pockets of "okay" in days that felt otherwise overwhelming. They didn't change my circumstances. They just made them survivable.
And when you're in survival mode, survivable is actually everything.
You don't need to be grateful for profound blessings right now. You need to notice the small things that helped you make it through the day. That's not shallow gratitude. That's honest gratitude.
What Got Me Through This Year
Let me tell you what actually helped this year. Not what I think I should be grateful for. What genuinely made a difference.
Products that worked with my body instead of against it. This seems small until you've spent years fighting with products that make everything harder. Natural cleaning products that don't give me headaches. Soap that doesn't irritate my skin. The absence of problems is actually something to be grateful for.
The ability to lock a door. Bathroom door, bedroom door, car door. Any door that creates a temporary barrier between me and everyone who needs something from me.
People who didn't need me to be okay. Who could handle me being a mess. Who didn't require me to perform recovery or positivity or gratitude I didn't feel.
The moments I remembered to breathe. Like actually breathe, not just the automatic biological function. The moments where I stopped, put my hands under hot water, used foaming hand soap that felt gentle, and just existed for thirty seconds.
The courage to disappoint people. To set boundaries. To say no. To stop trying to meet everyone's expectations. That courage didn't come easy, but I'm grateful it eventually came at all.
My body's stubbornness. Even when I ignored it, punished it, pushed it past its limits – it kept going. It kept trying. It deserves more gratitude than I usually give it.
The Love Yourself Bundle that sits in my bathroom. Not because it's magic, but because it's a tangible reminder that I'm allowed to take care of myself. That fifteen minutes in a bath with salts isn't selfish. That using a shower steamer isn't indulgent. That I'm worth the small acts of care.
These aren't big things. But they're real things. Things that actually mattered on days when nothing else felt manageable.
The Gratitude That Includes the Struggle
Here's what nobody tells you about real gratitude: It includes acknowledging the hard stuff.
I'm grateful I finally see my burnout clearly – which means I'm acknowledging I'm burned out.
I'm grateful for boundaries – which means I'm admitting I was overextended.
I'm grateful my body forced me to stop – which means I'm recognizing I was pushing too hard.
Real gratitude doesn't pretend everything's fine. It says "this is really hard AND here's what helped me survive it."
Both parts matter. The struggle and the help. You can't be genuinely grateful for what helped if you're not honest about what you needed help with.
What I'm NOT Grateful For (And That's Okay)
Let's also be honest about what I'm not grateful for, because sometimes that clarity matters too:
I'm not grateful for the burnout that forced these changes. I'm grateful for the changes, but I wish they'd come differently.
I'm not grateful for all the products I wasted money on before finding ones that worked. I'm grateful for the ones that finally do work, but the journey to get there sucked.
I'm not grateful for every person in my life. Some relationships take more than they give, and I'm learning that's okay to acknowledge.
I'm not grateful for the guilt I carried about self-care. I'm grateful I'm releasing it, but I'm not grateful it was there in the first place.
You don't have to be grateful for everything. You don't have to find the silver lining in genuinely difficult situations. You don't have to perform thankfulness for things that hurt you.
Gratitude can be specific and selective. That's allowed.
The Permission to Keep It Simple
Here's what I want you to hear: Your gratitude doesn't have to be impressive to be valid.
Grateful for coffee? That counts. Grateful for hot water? That counts. Grateful for products that don't irritate your skin? That counts. Grateful you made it through the day? That counts. Grateful for literally anything that made life slightly less difficult? All of it counts.
You don't need to be grateful for profound blessings or major life events or Instagram-worthy moments.
You just need to notice what helped. What worked. What made things bearable when they otherwise weren't.
That's enough. You're enough.
Every conversation I have this month includes some version of "I should be more grateful but I'm just so tired." You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to summon profound thankfulness while you're barely holding it together.
Because gratitude doesn't have to look like anything specific. It just has to be honest.
What Actually Matters at the End of the Year
You know what matters more than a beautiful gratitude list? Surviving hard seasons with a few things that made it bearable.
That's it. That's the bar.
If you made it through this year with even one thing you're genuinely grateful for – even if it's just that you made it through – that's enough.
Your gratitude doesn't need to be perfect or pretty or inspirational. It just needs to be true.
And the truth is: Sometimes you're just grateful for hot showers, gentle soap, and the fact that tomorrow might be slightly better than today.
That's real gratitude. And it matters more than any curated list ever could.
P.S. – If your gratitude list right now is just "I'm grateful for products that don't make my skin worse," that's completely valid. That's actually huge when you've struggled with sensitive skin. The absence of problems is something worth appreciating.
P.P.S. – The Love Yourself Bundle isn't going to fix everything that's hard right now. But if you're grateful for small moments of care in the middle of chaos, that's what it's designed to create. Fifteen minutes where you're allowed to exist without producing anything for anyone. That's worth something.
