Recently, I celebrated a milestone - my 40th birthday! (That was hard to write the first time, but it’s getting easier.) As I have come to embrace the wisdom of the past four decades, I couldn't help but reflect on the bountiful and beautiful lessons that have shaped who I am today…

Do you see signs of spring where you are? In southern Ontario, Canada, even though I still see snow on the ground, there are patches of grass, birds are chirping, warmer weather, and the sun is staying out longer.

One of the things I love about spring is it's a beautiful reminder for a refreshing reset.

Gratitude is easy when we have all the warm, feel-good moments that surround the holidays and when the driver ahead pays for your chai tea latte in the Second Cup drive thru, but what about the rest of the year? Gratitude is more than just a fleeting feeling of thankfulness, it’s an intentional shift in perspective, a heart posture that can transform the mundane into meaningful, the chaos into calm, and the overwhelmed into overjoyed.

It’s not a matter of if overwhelm hits you, but when. The most frustrating part is you don’t know what’s causing it or why you feel so worn out. It feels like you’re stuck on a hamster wheel, spinning out of control. The demands of life can be overwhelming. Often, it takes more energy trying to figure out what triggered this off-balance, helpless, guilty feeling.