Seasons of Change

As the new year rolls around, I often find myself reflecting on the events of the last year. The choices I made, the things I did, and the things I didn’t do. That last one usually keeps me up at night. To be honest, 2025 was a wonderful year for me. I was blessed time and time again, picked up new skills and hobbies, and made memories I will cherish for my whole life. This last year was also a time of heartache and discomfort. I had to say goodbye to pieces of my life in order to make room to welcome new pieces. I also traveled six months out of the twelve—exhausting me to whit’s end. In a time when we often reflect on how we can make the new year better, I’m left wondering how that will be possible since I already had a wonderful year.

First off, it didn’t take me long to remember that getting caught up in bigger and better is a waste of time. When all is said and done, I have no control over the world, just what I add to it. Trying to predict what will happen in the future twelve months is pointless. Life isn’t concrete, and what you expect to happen by September might be the opposite of reality (for better or worse). But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to achieve good things in this new year. Even if this next year isn’t as exciting as the last, there’s still a lot I plan to do. I want to publish my next book by midyear. I want to write the first draft of another. And I want to learn a new language. There are many other things I want to achieve this year. Just like there were many things I wanted to do last year that I never got around to. I was either too busy or put my priorities elsewhere. What’s important is knowing things will change, and being flexible with your expectations.

As for my first goal this year: my book The Gate’s Call is written out. All I need to do now is revise it, which is easier said than done. Not only is this book a stand-alone, but it is also a different genre than my usual works, and much shorter at that. I’m excited to share more about it, as I have already chatted a bit about it on my YouTube channel, ThoughtsofaGoblin, but will save that for another blog post to go in more detail.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in what we haven’t accomplished in life—especially this time of year. Remembering the importance of self-care and gratitude will help set us all up for a blissful 2026. What do you want to achieve?