I am going to be honest with you here because I am nothing if not honest with my readers. My original plan for Thanksgiving was to write a listicle with a list of things I am thankful for that are cliche, overdone, and probably not worth reading. I even started writing it, finished it, and almost submitted it.

But, then I thought more about it and I realized something. Despite the fact that I am thankful for things like my family, my boyfriend, my health, etc., there are other things, more abstract things to be thankful for.

The more I thought about my life as a whole and the last couple of years in particular, the more obvious it became that there is one glaring commonality throughout all of my years that, despite being the worst, I am able to be thankful for; my struggles.

I know what you're thinking, how can someone be thankful for struggles and hardships? Allow me to explain. I am no stranger to hardships and the inevitable pain that comes along with them. But, these hardships have done their part in making me who I am. In teaching me lessons that I would not have learned had I had a much easier life.

I have been through a lot in my 20+ years of life. I have lost loved ones. I have loved and lost boyfriends and friends I thought I would have forever. My current relationship wasn't always the best. I've endured abuse both physical and otherwise from previous boyfriends. I didn't have the picture perfect childhood and my relationship with my parents could definitely be better.

But all of these things have taught me valuable lessons. They have encouraged me to be better versions of myself after each struggle and given me thicker skin. I now know how to handle money struggles, I know how to safely exit an abusive relationship, I have finally learned my worth, among countless other things that I have learned.

I am stronger and a thousand times better than the person I used to be and that is all due to struggles and pain. Now, I'm not saying that I am open to a life full of struggles because I'm not. I would love to have a struggle free, carefree life. But unfortunately, that's impossible. Life happens, sh*t happens, things go wrong.

But I can at least be thankful for the lessons I've learned from the things that I have had to endure. These hardships have turned me into a stronger, wiser person, and now I have the knowledge to help other people with similar struggles or help myself with future struggles.