Grateful and Still Wanting More

There's a sentence I hear from almost every woman I work with, usually right before she talks herself out of something.

"I know I should be grateful."

She says it about the job that pays the bills but doesn't light her up. The marriage that's fine. The house, the kids, the health, the life that looks good from the outside. And she is grateful. Truly. That's what makes it so confusing.

Because underneath the gratitude, there's a quiet ache. A sense that there's more for her. And the moment she notices it, the guilt shows up right behind it: Who am I to want more when I already have so much?

If that's you, I want to say something clearly.

Gratitude and desire are not opposites. You don't have to choose one.

You can love your life and still feel the pull of what's next. You can thank God, the universe, or your lucky stars for where you are — and still want to grow. Those two things live in the same heart. They always have.

Here's what I've learned. When we tell ourselves we "should just be grateful," we're not actually practicing gratitude. We're using it as a lid. A way to keep the wanting small and quiet so nobody — including us — gets disappointed.

Real gratitude doesn't shrink you. It steadies you. It says, look how far you've come. And then it turns toward the horizon and asks, so what's next?

Try this this week

Grab a notebook and draw a line down the middle.

• On the left: What I'm grateful for right now. Be specific. Write at least ten.

• On the right: What I'm quietly wanting. Don't edit it. Don't explain it. Just let it be there.

• 
  

Then look at both sides and notice — neither one cancels the other out.

This November, I'm going to keep coming back to this. And on December 1 and December 6, I'm hosting a free virtual workshop called Permission to Dream, where we'll take that right-hand column seriously and start shaping it into a vision for 2027.

You don't have to know what you want yet. You just have to be willing to look.

Save your seat: https://forms.gle/ysDCfeKw5sCiHQgi7— Tuesday, Dec 1 at 6pm AZ or Sunday, Dec 6 at 11am AZ. Pick the one that fits.

With you, Jen

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