As Thanksgiving nears, I am struck by how easy it can be to forget to be thankful for the many blessings in my life. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, keeping track of responsibilities and keeping up with relationships. Perspective is everything, and I’ve been so focused on the worries of the moment and restrained by fear and uncertainty.

The new experiences in this particular season in my life have brought much joy, but also reservation. In this unfamiliar territory, I’m anticipating and prepared for things to go awry at any moment because I don’t know what else to expect. But it’s so unproductive to worry about things I can’t change anyway.

Maybe the antidote to getting too caught up in what we don’t have control over is remembering all the things we have to be grateful for and surrendering the rest. We’d do much better to expect more out of life, even at the risk of disappointment and confirming our greatest fears about ourselves.

If we spend so much energy bracing ourselves for disappointment and fearing change, we’ll miss the special moments in our lives. We could be spending our limited capacities and resources truly living in the moment and enjoying the unexpected gifts instead.

I’ve found that our past experiences often limit our expectations about the possibilities for the future and condition us to think small. But I say, screw that. There’s so much to look forward to. There’s so much we have yet to experience. There is so much more to be.

I’m so thankful, for everything that I’ve learned so far and that I can still be surprised and learn new things. I’m done being afraid and missing out on the gifts of glorious and quiet moments. I am making less room for fear, and more room for gratitude.