I will not kid you. There are days when the world seems impossibly difficult. But then, the rest of you show me how fortunate I am.

I watch a video of a baby born deaf getting his first hearing aid at seven weeks old. I watch the look of wonder on his face as he hears for the first time. I watch five or six times, and then I send it to my parents. (My dad has lost the hearing in one ear due to a benign tumor that grew on his hearing nerve, and a large percentage of the hearing in the other ear due to not protecting his ears when he thought himself invincible as a young man. Now he wears a sophisticated hearing aid.)

Then I watched a video of a man with ALS doing the ice bucket challenge, struggling to breathe and talk and swallow. Struggling. But also laughing. And expressing gratitude.

Then I read on twitter about a trans woman's rental deposit on a sublet being taken by the man she rented from, her calls unreturned. She resigned herself to being homeless for a while. Her friends volunteered their couches.

Maybe that's our great strength. We keep going when things go wrong. We don't give up.

I feel proud to be among you, those whose path is difficult. You are my inspiration. For you, I will strive to train my patience, my humbleness, my helpfulness.

For you, I will keep going on the darkest days. With gratitude. For even at the worst of times, I am fortunate.