(I'm lookin' at you, 2020). 

Trauma in all forms, can severely impact our livelihood and our outlook on life. Recovery is a long and winding road of progress for many. If we're far enough from the experience we can actually begin to look at it from a lens of gratitude to help facilitate the process of healing. Forgetting traumatic or negative experiences is not the goal. Blind positivity isn't helpful in the long run. Instead, the goal is to find ways to reshape that event or circumstance in a way that makes it that much lighter of a load to carry, and to propel you forward in life. 

The past year can easily be considered an experience that falls into that category. Personally, I've been actively reframing events from 2020 as I was experiencing them as much as possible because honestly, that's probably one of the only ways I could've kept moving forward. I became a regular practitioner of gratitude last year and I'm so glad I did it. 

Greater Good Magazine has a great article called "How Gratitude Can Help You Get Through Hard Times" by Robert Emmons Ph.D, a leading scientific expert on gratitude and a psychology professor at UC Davis. If you want to learn more, this is the place to start. 

And below is a little guide inspired by the article for you to save and share if you're so inclined. 

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