Before We Turn the Page: Lessons I’m Carrying Forward
This year taught me a lot… not all at once and not always gently.
Some lessons arrived through joy.
Others through uncertainty, change, or seasons I wouldn’t have chosen but now wouldn’t trade for the clarity they gave me and lessons I learned.
Before we turn the page to 2026, I want to name a few of the lessons I’m carrying forward. Not because I have it all figured out, but because these truths of mine earned their place this year.
1. Distance doesn’t weaken love… it refines it.
Love stretches. It adapts. It finds new rhythms. And sometimes it grows deeper when you learn how to hold it differently. And how thankful I am for the technology of FaceTime to keep that connection.
2. Growth often looks like saying yes before you feel ready.
New rooms, new conversations, new friendships and confidence usually comes after the step, not before it. Saying yes even when you have no idea what’s going to happen.
3. Healing changes the pace of everything and that’s not a failure.
Slowing down isn’t falling behind. Sometimes it’s exactly what allows everything else to realign.
4. Presence matters more than productivity.
The moments that meant the most this year weren’t the busiest ones. They were the ones where I was fully there.
5. Community makes growth lighter.
Doing hard things alongside people who understand you changes everything. I am or forever changed because of the friendship and community I leaned in and said yes to,
6. You can hold joy and heaviness at the same time.
One doesn’t cancel out the other. Both can coexist and often do.
7. It’s okay to outgrow old versions of yourself.
Growth doesn’t require an explanation. It only asks for honesty.
8. Gratitude isn’t denial — it’s perspective.
Being thankful doesn’t mean the year was easy. It means you noticed what carried you through it.
9. Strength isn’t loud.
Sometimes it looks like consistency. Sometimes it looks like staying soft when it would be easier to harden.
10. Not every season is meant to be rushed.
Some chapters need to be lived slowly to be understood fully.
11. What truly matters becomes clearer when life simplifies.
Health. Family. Connection. Purpose. Everything else adjusts around those.
12. You don’t have to have the next chapter figured out to turn the page.
You just need the willingness to carry what you’ve learned forward.
Before we turn the page, these are the lessons I’m holding onto…not as rules, but as reminders.
They’ll guide how I step into what’s next… steady, grateful, and grounded.
This year taught me what I want to carry and what I’m ready to leave behind.
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