„We have two lives. The second begins when we realize we only have one.“
Mario de Andrade
The year has begun. And maybe you feel stuck. Like you’re just going through the motions, trying to get by somehow—without knowing where to even begin to make a change. Maybe it feels like everything is against you and there’s no way out.
I know that feeling. I have been there. I know how suffocating it can be to keep falling into the same patterns and only doing what others want. Because you’ve lost yourself.
But I know something else too.
The moment I understood that only I can change my life, everything started to change. I realized: no matter what I’ve experienced, no matter what happened to me—I’m the only one who can redirect my life. I can decide where I stay. And where I go.
When the noise around me became too loud, I began to listen to my inner voice.
I asked myself questions that changed everything:
What do I truly want?
What do I need?
What doesn‘t feel right anymore?
Where do I no longer want to be?
What was in me all along that I had refused to look at?
Everything changed when I began to take myself seriously.
When I broke free from the voices that held me back.
When I understood that other people’s opinions no longer had to determine my future.
No matter what has happened to you.
No matter how much pain, trauma, or injustice you have experienced.
No matter who has hurt you.
Only YOU have the power to change your life.
So dedicate this year to yourself.
Listen to your own voice—instead of all those who think they know what’s good for you.
Because only one person knows what your soul truly wants: you.
Maybe that doesn’t feel right to you right now. Maybe you feel like you’ve lost yourself. Maybe you have no idea who you really are.
That’s what happens when you’ve learned to always be there for others. When you’ve adapted, functioned, kept the mood up—and forgotten yourself in the process.
But you can change exactly that.
By starting to listen inside:
What nourishes you—and what doesn’t?
Where do you feel alive, where empty?
Which people nourish you, which exhaust you?
Where does your body show you clear limits?
How is your health—physical and mental?
In chinese astrology 2025 was the year of the wooden snake. A year of inner development, self-reflection, of recognizing old patterns and shedding old beliefs. It also completed a 9 year long cycle.
2026 is the year of the fire horse. The combination of the horse and the fire are considered particulary powerful and dynamic and symbolize new beginnings, energy, movement, change and transformation. It only comes around every 60 years.
So if you want change—there’s no better time than NOW.
You don’t have to have it all figured out.
You don’t have to know all the next steps.
You just have to know that things have to change.
And have the courage to make a decision towards yourself.
So get the help that you need.
Tell someone you trust that you’re struggling.
Make the appointment that you kept postponing.
Speak up when things don’t feel right.
Be kind to yourself.
Whether the change is big or small, quiet or bold,
whether it’s about starting something new,
or finally letting something go,
whatever it is that your inner voice has been whispering to you: listen.
And take the next honest step.
You are the creator of your life.
The decisions are in your hands.
So will you decide to make 2026 YOUR year?