🌟A Season of Miracles (And Why I Finally Noticed Them)

How to move from ‘getting through the holidays’ to savoring gratitude, miracles, and second chances.

Every December, it feels like the whole world shifts into survival mode.We talk about “getting through” the holidays as if joy is something we have to navigate around. Stress becomes the default, even when everything around us is supposedly beautiful.

And yes, we need tools for boundaries, stress, and emotional protection. That work matters. But that’s only one side of the coin. The other side — just as important, and often neglected — is intentionally growing our capacity for appreciation, wonder, gratitude, and joy.

But this week, something different hit me — something that stopped me in my tracks.

From “Getting Through” to Noticing Miracles

I was in New York City yesterday for a speaking class in my Speaker U program with the National Speakers Association (NSA/NYC). And even though I wasn’t near Rockefeller Center, the whole city felt alive. Penn Station — usually just a blur of commuters and impatience — was glowing with Christmas trees and lights. Families were taking photos, kids were laughing, people were smiling at strangers.

The gratitude hit so fast I actually stopped walking.I am so lucky to be here.

Not just in NYC — but alive, present, awake in my own life.

Five and a half years ago, I couldn’t speak in public. My throat would close — classic glossophobia, severe public-speaking anxiety. I sounded like someone choking on terror, because I was.

Now?I stand in rooms full of people and speak.Not perfectly. Not without nerves.But I speak — and sometimes, I even enjoy it.

That is a miracle.

And isn’t this the season of miracles?

The oil that should’ve lasted one night burning for eight.The miracle of a child born into impossible circumstances.The miracle of recovery — lives turning around that once felt impossible.The quiet, everyday miracles all around us that we rush past because we’ve stopped seeing them.

This year, instead of asking,“How do I get through the holidays?”

I’m asking something entirely different:

✨ “What miracles have I been missing?”

✨ “What moments have I stopped savoring?”

✨ “What grace is already present that I haven’t slowed down long enough to notice?”

The Science of Joy, Gratitude, and Awe

Our minds get so used to scanning for what’s wrong that we forget to look at what’s right.

And here’s what’s interesting:Positive psychology research suggests that joy, awe, and gratitude aren’t “bonus” emotions — they actually strengthen our ability to handle stress. They build resilience, support nervous-system regulation, deepen emotional balance, and help us cope more effectively with whatever is hard.

In other words:Focusing on blessings doesn’t ignore reality — it expands our capacity to live it.

It allows us to accept people as they are, not as we wish they’d be.It helps us live life — and the holidays — on their terms, not ours.It shifts us from tallying grievances to noticing grace.It’s spiritual, emotional, and psychological maturity at the same time.

The Everyday Miracles We Forget

Statistically speaking, the odds of any of us being here are so astronomically small that our very existence feels like a cosmic win. Yet here we are — breathing, healing, laughing, rebuilding, walking through city streets lit by wonder.

We forget how incredible it is just to wake up.To pour the morning coffee.To sit with someone we love.To walk the dog, to feel warmth under our hands.To speak words we once couldn’t.

To have a second chance at a life I once thought I had lost.

How Savoring the Season Changes Us

This season, let’s stop bracing — and start noticing.

Psychologists sometimes use the word “savoring” for what happens when we slow down enough to fully take in a good moment. Savoring doesn’t erase stress, but it can increase happiness and help ease the weight we’re carrying — including during the holidays.

This is the heart of the shift:The holidays don’t need to change — our attention does.

🕯 A Question for You

What small miracle have you overlooked this season — and what might happen if you slowed down enough to truly see it?

🌟 A Mantra for the Weekend

“I pay attention to the grace running through my life.”

✨ Inspiration

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.The other is as though everything is.”— Albert Einstein