This has been one of the most challenging years of my life. Looking at social media and talking with friends, I know I’m not alone. That’s why I’m using these final two months of 2025 to recalibrate my life and set concrete plans to make next year what I truly want it to be. I’m committed to healing from this year’s hurts and emerging stronger than ever. Resilience isn’t just about surviving hard times—it’s about how you come back from them.
This year, many of us have experienced profound loss: family members, jobs, homes, relationships or things deeply meaningful to us. We grieve significant losses, and we must move through that grief to reach better days. Those “better days” are what I’m fighting for—days when I can look back and think: You’ve been remarkably resilient. You made it through and came out better.
These final months of 2025 should be a time for taking stock—time to center ourselves so we can start strong. I’m not talking about typical New Year’s resolutions or the tired “new year, new me” clichés. I’m talking about genuine, internal change that will make 2026 our year. We’re not chasing fantasy versions of ourselves, but learning to be content with what we have, while striving for what we truly want. We’re going to fight to ensure we’re happy every single day.
Recalibration means recognizing that people will try to remind you of who you used to be. As my pastor says, we all have old versions of ourselves, but we don’t need others throwing them in our faces. We’ve already lived through those times and survived them. We’re better because of them.
So in 2026, when someone says, “I remember when you,” respond like this: “I remember that too, and that was the fuel I needed to get where I am today.”
Then, we’re going to stop playing the martyr. Nobody asked us to sacrifice ourselves, but we did it anyway. While caring for others matters, losing ourselves in the process is the most damaging journey we can take. This next year, we will focus on ourselves. We will love ourselves as much as we love others. We deserve the same happiness, attention, love and forgiveness we freely give to others every day. We will see ourselves as the most vital part of this journey and learn to love ourselves completely.
Next, we are going to understand that “no” is not a bad word. “No” means I have learned to preserve myself; overextending myself only causes me harm. No doesn’t require any other explanation, justification or apology. It is powerful. So in 2026, “no” will be our word. For the first time in my life, I’m going to be OK with that.
If we want 2026 to be our year, it can only be different if we make the changes necessary to create what we deserve. There will still be challenges—moments of defeat, heartache and pain. But with an open mind and a healed heart, the outcome changes.
The Call for you is to recalibrate who you are and what you want to prepare for 2026. The moment we declare 2026 to be our best year yet, we must prepare for everything life will throw at us to prove us wrong. We have to be smarter, rise above the doubt and know that we’re capable of reaching the goals we have set. When we do, we will deserve it.
