Looking Forward: The Chapters Ahead

As 2026 begins, I find myself standing at the edge of what has been and what may still come. Not rushing ahead, not looking back with regret, but holding both with care.

A new year often arrives with expectations. Plans. Promises to change, improve, become someone slightly different overnight. But this year, I don’t feel drawn to reinvention. I feel drawn to recognition. Recognition of the road that brought me here and of everything it asked of me along the way.

The years behind us shape us. Through love and loss. Through moments of connection and moments of distance. Through endings that arrived too soon and beginnings that asked more of us than we expected. None of it was wasted. All of it taught us something about who we are and what matters.

What I want to carry into this new year is not certainty, but openness.
The willingness to stay open when it would be easier to withdraw.
The choice to lead with kindness, toward others and toward myself.
The belief that connection still matters, and that it grows when we show up honestly, without armour.

I’ve learned that beginning again does not mean forgetting. It means allowing what we’ve lived to shape how we listen, how we care, how we move forward. It means trusting that even when the path isn’t clear, taking the next honest step is enough.

A new year does not promise answers. But it offers a chance to keep showing up. Honestly, imperfectly, with heart.

As 2026 begins, I want to step forward carrying what has shaped me, not running from it. To meet life with openness instead of protection. To trust that hope does not disappear simply because it has been tested.

If I can move through this year with kindness, presence, and a steady heart, then whatever unfolds will be enough.