Gratitude in a grim year? In abundance.

“Thank you so much.”

“I am so grateful for you!”

Do you ever think about how much you say these phrases? I don’t. At Thanksgiving, I usually give a standard answer to the “what are you grateful for” question: Friends, family, health and job.

Except this year I lost my job.

And honestly, I’ve felt more gratitude than I have in a long time.

For every time I cried, or got a rejection email, I recall many more instances of myself saying or messaging the words and sentiment, “thank you.”

At the lowest point I’d ever been in my career, I received so much from people I didn’t even know I could count on. What did I do to deserve so much from so many? It feels like a great big community opened and took me in, allowing me to grieve and process while giving me support to grow and navigate an unexpected journey.

Here’s when I felt gratitude:

• The dozens of times someone made space in their schedule to talk to me on the phone for half an hour to an hour or get together in person. Whether it was a former colleague, a high school classmate or a connection from a mutual professional Facebook group. I’ve got a long list of people who made time to answer my questions, give me industry perspectives and help me work things out for myself.
• When connections and friends simply started forwarding me jobs. Some would forward me job postings they felt would be a good fit for me, and others forwarded whole lists of current job openings.
• When someone would pass along my resume or recommend me to a hiring manager.
• Those random times a former colleague or connection would reach out and ask, “how are you doing?”
• When someone invited me to a networking event or introduced me to a new contact.

When I think about my year, defined so much in my mind by the last three to five months, this list is incredible. I’ve got so much to be thankful for, and this is just professional gratitude – I have even more on my personal list!

I didn’t have getting laid off on my 2024 bingo card. But it showed me that gratitude isn’t the opposite of grieving. It’s the rope that helps slowly pull your way out of your grief.