Welcome back to Infinite Threads. I’m your host, Bob.

Today is Thanksgiving for many of us here in the U.S., and whether you’re surrounded by loved ones, spending the day in quiet reflection, working, resting, or even grieving—I want to say something from my heart:

You are not behind.

Not in life. Not in purpose. Not in love.

Even if today doesn’t look like what you thought it would. Even if you’re alone. Even if you feel like everyone else is farther ahead.

You’re not late. You’re just arriving on your own terms.

There are so many moments in life where we feel like we’ve missed something. Like the train already left the station and we’re still standing on the platform with our bags packed, wondering how everyone else got moving while we somehow didn’t.

We look at our lives in comparison to others:

“They’re already married. I’m still single.” “They have kids. I never got to.” “They own a home. I’m barely making rent.” “They figured out their calling. I’m still trying to find mine.”

It is so easy—too easy—to feel like you’re falling behind. Like you’re failing.

But I want to offer you a different truth.

There is no race. There is no clock. There is no final exam with a passing grade.

There is only your life.

And it is sacred.

You are not required to arrive at your joy, your peace, your purpose, on anyone else’s schedule.

You are not behind because you haven’t met some imaginary timeline. You are not behind because you’re struggling. You are not behind because healing is taking longer than you thought it would.

You are not behind. You are becoming.

Even now.

Even today.

Especially today.

If this holiday feels hard for you—maybe because you’re alone, or you’re estranged from someone you love, or you’ve lost someone, or you’re carrying pain that doesn’t match the Hallmark version of gratitude—I want you to know:

You’re still allowed to feel joy. You’re still allowed to feel love. You’re still allowed to feel proud of the quiet ways you’re surviving.

Gratitude is not reserved for the people who have it all together. It’s not something you earn by being strong or successful. It’s something that bubbles up in the stillness, in the softness, in the quiet places of the heart where you realize:

“Even after everything... I’m still here.”

That is worth celebrating.

So maybe this Thanksgiving, instead of comparing yourself to the version of your life you thought you’d have by now, you can take a deep breath and just let this version be enough.

Not because it’s perfect. Not because it doesn’t hurt.

But because it’s real.

Because it’s yours.

Because you made it here.

And that’s not nothing.

That’s everything.

If you’re listening to this alone, please know: you’re not forgotten. You’re not invisible. You’re not unworthy. You’re part of this thread. Right here. Right now.

And you are so deeply loved.

I am thankful for you.

And wherever this day takes you, may you find a moment—just one—to breathe in the truth:

You are not behind.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be.

And that, my friend, is enough.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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