I feel a great deal of optimism this morning.

I often reflect on how the worst experiences in my life became the best experiences in my life. If I never hit bottom, I never would have gotten sober. If I never got sober, I never would have been introduced to a way of living that provides me with clarity and grace.

2020 could be our bottom. If we have the courage to stop digging, we can start to climb out of this hole and into a better future.

This could be the year when we say to ourselves “I’m not living like that anymore.”

Even though it hurts, we should be grateful for this shit show of a year. It isn’t until time passes that you can more easily recognize how pain is the catalyst for the turning points in life.

In the moment, it just feels like pain. Looking back, it’s always obvious that “God was doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.”

This Thanksgiving, I give thanks for my family, my health, for all my friends who I love so dearly.

I’m give thanks for everyone at JourneyPure, who have taught me so much and pushed me way beyond my comfort zone. I’ve never been a part of something where I feel so consistently enamored by the quality of the people I’m surrounded by.

I give thanks for my wife and my beautiful baby who is on the way.

I give thanks for Stodzy and the remarkable worldwide team that is being built on the backbone of respect and excellence and trust.

I give thanks for all the teachers I’ve had along the way, who showed me the man that I want to be. I give special thanks to this man, who taught me the highest ideal of honestly, and who I don’t talk to nearly enough.

Most of all, above everything, I give thanks to the higher power that blessed me with the desperation I needed to make a choice and to let go of my illusions of control.

This year has not been easy, and there are millions of people out there who are struggling and who don’t have the luxury of writing a blog post about “embracing the hard times.” My intention is not to be trite, my intention is to capture the moment. I empathize with anyone who is in desperation, because I have been there and I know how it feels.

None the less, it is pain that creates change. Comfort will never force us to act differently. So as hard as it may sound, I hope we can all be grateful for this terrible year that has caused so much pain around the world.

It is my profound belief that years from now, we will look back and see this as a turning point.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, especially to my brothers and sisters across the world who are choosing to live one day at a time.

The Blank Page

Gratitude, Optimism and Sobriety