Gratitude, Courage, and the Luxury of Time: A Thanksgiving Reflection

This year, gratitude feels different.

It’s not that I’m suddenly more grateful for the obvious things — my family, my health, the roof over my head, the career I’ve built over two decades, the chaotic but beautiful rhythm of raising children. I’ve always been grateful for those things.

But this year, gratitude feels deeper. More layered. More honest.

Because this is the year I finally faced a fear I had been carrying around quietly for far too long: the fear of starting something new. Something personal. Something vulnerable. Something that felt bigger than me.

This is the year I created AdventureRx.

When people say “Do the thing that scares you,” I used to nod politely and think, Sure, when I have time.
Time — the greatest excuse of all. The one that feels so valid, so adult, so relatable.

But beneath that, if I’m honest, was fear.
Fear of failing.
Fear of being seen.
Fear of being misunderstood.
Fear of taking on something that came from my heart and having it fall flat.

I think so many of us live with that quiet fear.
We tell ourselves we don’t have the time, but what we really don’t have is the permission — the permission to pursue something that fulfills us in a new way.

Starting this blog wasn’t a sudden, dramatic leap. It was a slow unraveling of excuses. A quiet whisper inside me saying, If not now, when?
And once I allowed myself to begin, something shifted.

AdventureRx has become more than a project.
It has become a space for me to pour out the knowledge I’ve gathered through years of bedside nursing, ER case management, ICU life, and the emotional labor of walking families through their darkest and most hopeful days.
It’s a space where I share the everyday realities of motherhood — the messy, the magical, the exhausting, the incredible.
It’s a space where I talk about traveling with kids, building memories, navigating airports with car seats and strollers, making the world feel a little bigger for little minds.

It’s an outlet.
A creative breath.
A reminder that we are allowed to grow in ways that don’t always make sense on paper.

But above all, it has been a teacher — showing me how important it is to honor the gift of time.

Because time is a luxury.
Time to learn.
Time to heal.
Time to start something new.
Time to be present.
Time to create something that feeds your soul instead of draining it.

I don’t take that luxury lightly, especially as someone who has witnessed, far too often, how unpredictable life can be. In healthcare, you learn quickly that tomorrow is never promised, and the moments we think are small often become the moments we wish we had more of.

So this Thanksgiving season, I’m feeling grateful not just for what I have, but for what I allowed myself to begin.

I’m grateful for the courage to grow.
For the willingness to learn.
For the humility to start small.
For the strength to push past my own fear.

I’m grateful for my family, who has supported me through every shift, every late-night idea, every “Let me just finish this real quick,” every messy creative phase.
I’m grateful for my health — a foundation I never take for granted.
And I’m grateful for you — the readers, the supporters, the silent cheerleaders who make this journey feel connected and meaningful.

AdventureRx is still growing, still evolving, still finding its voice.
And so am I.

As you move through this holiday season, I hope you give yourself the same permission: To start. To try. To dream. To step into something that both excites and scares you.
Because on the other side of fear, there is often something beautiful waiting.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. May your season be full of warmth, intention, and gratitude in all its forms.