Expressing my gratitude is long overdue, but I am also thankful that it took me this long. Sometimes you have to really figure out why you are thankful for something in order to express it, so here are three things I am most thankful for this year.

1. In September, I got opportunity to experience a life-changing internship which is still having a profound effect on my life and the lives of all others involved. I’m not sure why they call it an internship, because all of us are really being schooled about true purpose. How to see, love, and accept ourselves as we are made, and how to love others in the same way. It has truly been a spiritual, emotional, and mental transformation…. and it is only going to get better.

2. The YNF community has grown slowly but surely and I am thankful that there are people who really believe in this movement. I am thankful for the people I have met, and the lives that have been positively impacted because of it. This not only provides encouragement for others, but for myself and keeps me humble. To every single supporter of YNF, you are loved and appreciated.

3. I am thankful that my former best friend called the police on the day I attempted suicide (September 21, 2011). Fully thankful. It took me two years to realize how important that day was, not because of what I “lost,” but what was to come. It was through that loss of self and friendship that I was able to get a clean slate. If I died I would not have had the opportunity to start over and create YNF so that others could believe they can do the same. That they don’t have to be sad because something ends, but be hopeful because something new will begin.

(SIDENOTE: If the person in question ever reads this: Thank you. I hope you can forgive me as I have forgiven you, and love you very much… and congratulations on your new journey!)

The past two days I have noticed and enjoyed silence, beautiful skies, and clear roads and I believe that represents the new found peace and love I have for myself and others, the endless possibilities of community, and the fact that I have new life to go confidently in the direction of my God-given dreams. I believe that for myself, and anyone else who reads this.

Live your lives, don’t listen to the dream-killers, and move forward. The only person that can stop you is you. Write about what you are thankful for and share it!!

Submit your blog post expressing your gratitude for MSW at USC here:
http://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/the-gratitude-campaign-call-for-submissions/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=blog