Thank-FULL

Thanksgiving has a way of slowing us down long enough to hear our own lives speak. This year, as I traced the arc of not just this holiday but every season that came before it, I found myself overwhelmed with the same realization every morning:
I feel like I won the lottery. And somehow, when I “play” again the next day, I win again. Not because my life is perfect, but because my perspective has shifted into a place where everything becomes a blessing when seen through the eyes of gratitude.

If you rewind to last year, the picture looked completely different. Life felt uncertain, stretched thin, and full of questions with no clear answers. I was simply doing the best I could with what I had, taking it one moment at a time and trusting that somehow things would shift. And now? Everything has changed. New doors opened. Stability replaced scarcity. Love replaced loneliness. What once felt impossible has become my everyday reality. Look. At. God.

But here’s where the plot twist gets divine: even before the blessings arrived, I was already happy. Already grateful. Already trusting that God had us. That’s why this blog is called thank-full — because gratitude filled my cup back then, but today it is pouring over, running like a river that can’t help but carve new paths.

Your life is a river: always flowing, always moving, always responding to the shape you give it. People think transformation happens in giant leaps, but that’s not true. Rivers don’t shift course overnight — they shift moment by moment. Every thought you think is a small turn in the water. Every belief is a bend. Every act of gratitude softens the soil for a new direction. That’s why I always emphasize: you can start a new path for your river right now — this very moment. Not next year. Not when life “makes sense.” Right. Now.

For a long time, I believed the formula was simple: work hard, stay positive, keep your head up. But I was missing the secret ingredient — the part that actually flips the universe in your favor: it’s not enough to want a better life. You have to mentally become the version of yourself who already has it. This isn’t fluff. Your body and your future are listening to your thoughts far more literally than you realize.

A recent study from Harvard found that imagining a positive future activates the same brain pathways as if that future were happening in real time — meaning your brain begins building scaffolding for the life you are mentally rehearsing. Another study from the University of North Carolina showed that daily gratitude physically shifts your decision-making patterns, making you act more like a person who believes abundance is normal for them. You see? Nothing overly cerebral. Just proof that your brain trusts your belief.

There is a highest expression of you — a frequency, an energy. It already exists. All you have to do is tune into it. Thoughts create reality because they send signals to the universe saying: “I’m ready.” And the universe always responds to readiness. But it will not give you what you cannot sustain. That’s why some blessings come before you’ve “earned” them, and some don’t come even after you feel you deserve them. Life is not fair — and as I’ve learned: life isn’t fair… in your favor. If you stay high-frequency long enough, you will see doors open doing half the effort someone else had to exert. Not because you’re better. Because you’re aligned.

Spoiler alert. Life has anomalies — good things happen to questionable people, and confusing things happen to good ones. My mom once told me: “The difference between God’s understanding and a human’s is like the difference between a bird and a human. A bird cannot comprehend our thoughts — it doesn’t have the faculties for it. And we don’t have the faculties to comprehend God’s.” That image stuck with me. We judge fairness based on limited vision. God orchestrates based on eternal vision. Not everything is meant to be explained — some blessings are invitations for you to step up, embody more, and transform into someone your old self wouldn’t even recognize.

And through all of this, emotions will rise — fear, doubt, insecurity, old patterns. Jim Rohn said, “Emotions are wonderful passengers but terrible drivers.” So when low-frequency thoughts try to grab your steering wheel, gently tell yourself: “I don’t use my brain that way.” You get to decide which thoughts you feed. And thoughts are only fed by similar thoughts. So one moment of awareness can starve an entire negative pattern.

GRATITUDE • BELIEF • NURTURING
These three things work together like a spiritual ecosystem. Gratitude keeps your heart clean — no poison, no entitlement, no forgetting how far God has brought you. Belief keeps your frequency high even when circumstances try to drag you low. Nurturing keeps your blessings alive the same way tending soil keeps a seed growing. Some days nurturing your blessing means effort. Some days it means patience. Some days it means unconditional love with no scoreboard. Because karma isn’t biased — it returns what you give.

THE SEED
When you plant a seed, you don’t stare at the soil hour by hour waiting for it to bloom. You water it. You trust it. You let the sun do its job. Then suddenly, seemingly overnight, there’s a sprout. But it wasn’t sudden. It was happening all along beneath the surface. Your blessings are the same. Your growth is the same. Your becoming is the same.

THE POINT OF IT ALL
When I finally embodied the version of me I believed was possible — not someday, but now — my entire life rearranged itself without force. I didn’t chase my blessings. I matched the frequency of them. And then they came. Everything I have today is not luck. It’s alignment. And that alignment began the moment I decided: “I will think, act, believe, and show up as the woman my future requires.” When you do that, your river bends toward promise. Your blessings find you. Your energy calls them in like a lighthouse calls ships.

My prayer for you
May you know that you deserve the life you want. Not later. Not when you’re “better.” Not when you’ve suffered enough to deserve joy. Now. Embody it. Believe it. Water it. And let it bloom. Life is already rising to meet the highest version of you. Let her in.

Are you still there? If you’ve read this far, I have another post-signature note for you, dear reader.

Because this message is deeply personal… and because belief saved my life.

This topic is so close to my heart because I am truly living a life that younger me did not believe was possible. If you had spoken to me fifteen years ago, you would have met a girl who was drowning in despair. I was extraordinarily depressed. I had no hope. I felt like I had fallen too far from grace to even lift my head toward the heavens. I thought God had moved on from me.

But what I didn’t know then — what I live by now — is that belief has a Triple-A structure: Attitude. Activity. Affirmation.

This is how you actually embody belief. Because my biggest pet peeve is motivational messages that tell you what to do but not how to do it. Don’t just tell me to “believe.” Show me the mechanics of belief. Show me the steps. Show me the path. Here is what I call the Triple-A Pathway.

So here it is.

1. ATTITUDE — The Lens You Choose to See Life Through

Attitude is the filter that colors your entire world.

And I’m going to give you the lens — this is not optional, not interpretive, not flexible:

When something good happens, say:

“Life is happening for me, not to me. I receive this blessing.”

When something bad happens, say:

“Life is happening for me, not to me. I receive this lesson.”

Because everything in your life is either a blessing or a lesson — and both are for your elevation.

This is not easy. When the bad hits, my first instinct is not wisdom — it’s violence-by-imagination. As a writer, my mind is too creative for my own good. I can pray for you… or I can Google how much strychnine costs on Amazon. And don’t act brand new — every one of us has had those “Lord, hold my earrings” moments when someone crosses a line.

But growing means giving up the fantasy of vengeance and accepting what arrives on your path.

Not resisting it.

Not denying it.

Not poisoning it.

Receive the good without shrinking:

“Oh you didn’t have to…”

“I don’t deserve this…”

No. Open your arms and say THANK YOU.

Receive the bad without bitterness. You don’t have to unpack it immediately, but you do have to acknowledge:

“This is happening for me, not against me.”

The universe does not deliver experiences that are not part of your soul’s curriculum. You rise by facing resistance — the same way your muscles grow by lifting heavier weights. No one gets stronger curling the same 10 pounds forever. Growth requires tension.

That’s the law of the universe.

And the beautiful irony?

Even when you’re not trying to level up, the universe will still give you the test — because God believes in you more than you believe in yourself.

2. ACTION — Your Actions Are Your Mirror

Your actions tell the truth about who you are.

Not your intentions.

Not your words.

Your behavior.

If your lifestyle does not reflect the person you believe yourself to be, or the person you’re trying to become, then it’s time to pick up a pen — not a phone — and write a new schedule.

Studies show that writing by hand strengthens memory and deepens commitment. There’s a reason journaling is spiritual. Ink is a contract with yourself.

Choose one new action — just one — that aligns with the highest version of you.

Make it small.

Make it doable.

Make it repeatable.

Walk for ten minutes.

Wake up fifteen minutes earlier.

Drink water before coffee.

Cut carbs for one week.

Read five pages a night.

Don’t try to remodel your entire life overnight. Your brain is wired for comfort, not challenge. You let your spirit lead you into discomfort — not your brain.

And then you do that one thing for seven days in a row.

Just one thing.

Because actions are mirrors.

They show you whether your identity is true or wishful thinking.

If you say you’re disciplined but never follow through — the mirror will show the contradiction.

If you say you’re honest but exaggerate every story — the mirror will expose the gap.

Behavior never lies.

So choose one action.

Commit.

And let the mirror reflect a truer you.

3. AFFIRMATION — Celebrate Yourself on Purpose

Affirmation is not waiting for applause because of all your hard work — it is choosing to celebrate who you are becoming. Your self-perception determines your self-projection, and your self-projection shapes your reality. But true affirmation isn’t just about praising what you already love; it’s about learning to bless the parts of you that challenge your self-esteem.
If you don’t like your thighs, hold them and say: “Thank you for helping me walk. You are beautiful and strong, and I appreciate you.”
If you don’t like your nose, look in the mirror and say: “God bless this gorgeous nose that’s been with me my whole life — helping me breathe, smell, taste, and experience the world.”
If you don’t like your stomach, place your hands over it and say: “Thank you for carrying me through every season. Thank you for protecting my organs, digesting my meals, and holding emotions I didn’t know how to process. You are worthy of love.”
The point is simple: don’t just affirm what feels easy — affirm what feels uncomfortable. The parts of you that once carried shame deserve a new identity too. Celebrate who you are. Notice your growth. Name your wins. Affirm your becoming.

Because if you don’t affirm you, you will outsource your worth — and other people are too inconsistent to be responsible for your self-esteem.

I am living a life I once believed I would never touch. I dreamt of but I believed could only exist in one of my fiction books. But I didn’t get here by accident. I got here step by step, belief by belief, moment by moment — through the Triple-A structure that rebuilt my mind, my spirit, and my destiny.

Attitude. Action. Affirmation.

This is how belief becomes embodiment.

This is how embodiment becomes elevation.

And this is how elevation becomes a life you once thought was impossible.

Until next time,
Maria 🌹