🎁 Unwrapping the Present: A Reflection for Survivors

When you’re struggling, the world is full of people offering advice about how to “have a great day.”
They say things like:
“Just get over it.”
As if healing were as simple as flipping a light switch.

What they don’t realize is—
It’s not that we won’t let go of the past.
It’s that sometimes, the past refuses to let go of us.

It creeps into our brightest moments like an uninvited guest.
Memories. Flashbacks. Body memories.
Sudden silence in a conversation that makes your stomach flip.
An old smell. A word. A season.

They say, “Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.”

But some gifts take work to open.
They’re wrapped tightly—layers and layers deep.
Sometimes there’s tape where there should be ribbon.
Sometimes it takes all your strength just to keep unwrapping.

But we keep going.

Because something in us knows:
There’s something beautiful underneath.
Something worthy. Something ours.

Even when trauma taps us on the shoulder…

Even when fear lingers around the edges…

Even when we wake up tired from the weight of it all…

We still choose to show up and unwrap the day.

💪🏾 And that takes courage.

Today, whatever health I have, it carries me.

Whatever strength I can gather, I use it to build.
To rise.
To nourish the parts of me that are still healing.
To protect the peace I’m creating.

I refuse to let darkness define my daylight.

Today, my eyes are open.
My ears are listening.
My heart is wide and ready to receive.

Because even with the scars, this day still holds blessings.
And I refuse to miss them.

🙏🏾 Today, I give thanks—not because everything is perfect, but because I choose to keep unwrapping the gift of now.

🪞 Self-Reflection for the Present Moment:

1. What blessing—no matter how small—am I thankful for today?

2. How can I train my heart to notice what is good, even when healing hurts?

3. In what ways can I show gratitude to myself for surviving and continuing?