As we reach the final days of this year, I wonder, where does your heart lie right now? Are you looking forward with a bit of worry about what’s to come? Maybe you’re mentally rewinding, replaying moments, and thinking, “If only” or “I should have.” Or perhaps you’re holding onto a sense of hope, creating a vision for yourself that fills your heart—time to create what your heart has been nudging you about finally.
The human mind is powerful; it can take us to places of turmoil or to places of peace, sometimes within the same breath. One moment, we’re looking back and seeing all our stumbles; the next, we’re dreaming up blissful possibilities. It can dream up fears, build up regrets, and replay old mistakes (sometimes over and over again). But it can also create sweet outcomes, even in trying times, if we guide it with patience and self-compassion. The stories we tell ourselves about the past and the narratives we construct about the future shape our emotional landscape.
This time of year, I think there’s something powerful about letting peace be our focus. Not the kind of peace that feels distant or perfect, but a quieter, more grounded peace that comes from making room for both the good and the difficult parts of the journey. Maybe peace means forgiving yourself for what didn’t go as planned, or finally letting go of the things you can’t change. What if peace was less about everything being perfect and more about finding a place of calm within the messiness? Life is messy.
So, as you stand at this crossroads, maybe the best thing you could do for yourself is to move into the new year with gentleness. What if, instead of resolutions or big goals, you let your heart set the path? What if you lean into gratitude, curiosity, and kindness—for yourself, as much as for anyone else?
May peace be with you as you close this chapter and open a new one. May it be a peace that accepts the past, finds joy in the present, and makes space for all the dreams, questions, and possibilities waiting in the year ahead. Let it be a quiet, steady peace that reminds you to breathe, hope, and keep going—one step, one day at a time.
Hugs,
Cyndi