Gratitude Is Strength

By Mind & Muscle Academy. Newsletter nº42 ; 20/06/2025.

Jun 20, 2025

There are things we do every day that we barely even notice:

Opening our eyes.
Getting out of bed.
Breathing.
Walking to the kitchen.
Chewing breakfast.
Smiling.
Speaking.

It all just… happens. Effortlessly. Silently. As if it’s guaranteed.

Until you meet someone who can’t do any of that.
Until you sit beside a child whose body has turned against them.
Until you see someone your age - or younger - who lives every day in a wheelchair, who can’t speak, can’t eat, can’t move.

That’s what I saw during my work experience this week in neurological paediatrics. And I’m telling you right now - it changes you.

I saw children who couldn’t talk but had so much to say.
I saw kids being fed through tubes, their eyes flicking left to right as the world moved around them.
I saw lives that will never be “normal,” at least not by our definition.

And I realised how much I take for granted.

Every time I walk to school without thinking, lift weights at the gym, scroll on my phone, crack a joke, argue, eat, sleep - I am living a privilege. And so are you.

Being alive is a miracle.
Having a body that works is a miracle.
Even having the ability to read this right now is a miracle.

So why do we spend so much time complaining?
Why do we only focus on what we don’t have?
Why are we so quick to compare, to want more, to chase things that mean nothing without our health?

Gratitude isn’t just a nice idea - it’s fuel. It’s perspective. It’s power.
You can’t always change your situation, but you can always choose to recognise the beauty in it.