We’ve all been there. You put in the work, you do something meaningful, and then you wait. You wait for someone to notice, to applaud, to acknowledge your efforts. And when that recognition doesn’t come—or worse, when it comes in a way that feels hollow—you start to question whether what you did was even worth it. It’s a toxic cycle, and it can strip away the joy and purpose of doing good in the first place.

Practicing contentment is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself. It’s the antidote to the endless cycle of striving and never feeling satisfied. When you learn to appreciate what you have, where you are, and who you are in this moment, life opens up in ways you didn’t expect. You stop running on that treadmill of "more" and start embracing the richness of now.

Hope is not passive. It’s not sitting around waiting for things to get better. Hope is active, intentional, and, like any skill, it requires practice. In the middle of feeling sick and physically drained, I realized that hope isn’t about ignoring the bad stuff. It’s about acknowledging the pain, the setbacks, the frustration—and then choosing to believe that something better is coming.