Yesterday, I sat with a lot of emotions, thoughts, and opinions. So many things were happening around me: daily life, familial obligations, and political strife in the community. It prompted me to reflect deeply on 2025, the Lunar Year of the Snake.

At the beginning of 2025, I told myself this would be my year. I was going to close multiple chapters of my life and push open others. Financially, I have to say it was my most successful year ever. I made more money than my initial goal, paid down the majority of the debt I wanted to eliminate, and gave birth to my healthy baby. That joy came with a bittersweet feeling, knowing this was my last planned baby. I’m content with the number of children I have. And I finally completed school; something that had been a long time in the making.

However, I ended, and am ending, the year hollow. Despite all my accomplishments in my career, I felt as though I failed my children. I was always too busy. I lost so much time with them. Even when we went out, I was constantly rushing home to finish work. Even when they were home, I was cooped up in my office. It felt like their lives were happening without me in them. That realization made me deeply sad and disappointed in myself.

So, moving into 2026, the Lunar Year of the Horse, I’ve decided to practice better work–life balance. With a good portion of my debt paid off, I can afford to slow down. I may not make as much money as I did last year, but I want to refocus my energy and time on my children. I want to be present for both their big and small milestones. I don’t want to wake up 10 or 20 years from now, realize I don’t have a close relationship with them, and regret how I lived my life.

To conclude, I raise a glass (of water) to the end of a beautiful era of my life and an amazing year. Here’s to a new era; one rooted in what actually matters.