When Life is Light: Choosing Rest, Gratitude, and Joy

In today’s Women’s Empowerment Circle, we reflected on something that can be easy to overlook: the places we go when life is good. Too often, our attention is pulled toward what is hard or heavy, and today we celebrated growth—growth in our emotional health, in our ability to notice when we need rest, and in our capacity to actually take that rest without guilt.

Mindfulness teaches us to pay attention, to pause, to notice. Sometimes awareness looks like canceling plans so we can truly care for ourselves. Sometimes it means setting boundaries with our own minds, gently stepping away from rumination before it takes us down a familiar spiral. These choices are signs of maturity and self-compassion.

Gratitude also came alive in our conversation. It’s not only about being thankful for the extraordinary, but also about honoring the ordinary moments that make up your life. As a raregiver, you may notice goodness in places you least expect—perhaps in the compassionate listening of a doctor, or in the kindness of those who offer respite. Gratitude might be for a night of solid sleep, a partner who helps with dinner, or the small relief of someone else managing your Rare child’s medication routine. These everyday gestures are worth celebrating.

Having a regular gratitude practice can deepen your awareness. Try speaking your gratitudes aloud before bed—feel the vibration of your own voice, hear the words, let them land. Or write them down in a journal, collecting evidence of the good that exists alongside the hard. Over time, you may notice your attention shifting toward what is working, what is flowing, what is possible.

And then there is joy. Joy doesn’t ask your life to look a certain way—it asks only that you allow it in. You can practice “joy spotting” noticing the delight of a pink flower blooming in your garden, the magic of a rainbow stretching across the sky on your morning walk, or the comfort of your dog nestled against you on the couch. These small joys can saturate your being when you pause and slow down long enough to receive them.

Being a raregiver often means carrying weight that others cannot see. But it also offers a unique invitation to notice what is good, what is generous, what is beautiful. Gratitude and joy do not erase the challenges, and they can help to balance them. They remind us that life is not only about surviving, it’s also about pausing, noticing, and letting ourselves be nourished by the gifts that are already here.

Coming Up Next Week

Gratitude: The Art of Skillful Communication (Stage 4: Full-time care)

How has your primary relationship been impacted by becoming a Raregiver? Are you able to slow down, spend quality time together and share your gratitude for how well you are doing as a team? When you focus on expressing your appreciation,  relationships thrive. The first step is to acknowledge and appreciate yourself. Appreciation is one of the important ways we take care of ourselves and each other, yet so often, we may find ourselves looking at what isn’t working rather than celebrating what is. Join us to learn simple communication practices that you can use in your primary relationship, with your caregiving team and others in your life and community.

Please Join Us for the Women's Empowerment Circle every Tuesday at 10am PST.

You may not realize how much you need the Raregivers community until you find it.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84782918881

We look forward to being with you soon.