"It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." 
~ Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

To know we are different every day feels like grace to me. It means opportunity blooms with each rising day. It means another chance, another dance, another way to see without having to do much more than awaken and say… “Thank you, I’m ready”.

To know we are different every day can also feel like grief to me. All change carries loss of some kind, often taking a piece of us to a far off place we are never meant to retrieve. Grief is a mournful, heart song that grows in verse with the passing of time. With grace’s help, we get to practice singing this song, expand our lungs and sway with sweet memory to what once was. To understand grief is to accept that what we know now, was never meant to be known then.

To know we are different every day is a gift given to us by growing the skill of gratitude. Fleeting moments mark time only when we remember to slow down and reflect. Gratitude is the unfolding relationship between grace and grief, reminding us how far we’ve come, and reminding us we have no idea how far we’ve yet to go. The wisdom we gain from knowing we are not the same day by day, is gratitude reminding us to pay attention, slow down, make joy your priority while awakening to the truth that nothing is meant to last.

Learn more about how to start your own gratitude practice in our guide.