New Year 2026

2025 has just ended. With it, the first quarter of the twenty-first century has come to a close. That means three quarters remain. I know I will not experience all of them.

Twenty-five years from now, the second quarter, I will likely still be here. I hope so. Fifty years from now, the third quarter, I honestly do not know.

What I do know is this. My deepest wish is to remain healthy and active until the very end, and then one morning simply not wake up. Ideally, that moment would come with my wife beside me, both of us leaving this world together. It is a sentimental image, perhaps, like the ending of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, but it feels honest to me.

It matters to reflect on how many days may be left. Not in fear, but in clarity. When you think this way, life becomes countable in meaningful units. How many meals remain to share with your spouse. How many essays you may still write. How many times you will swim, run, or workout. How many genuine moments of love you can feel, receive, and above all, give.

None of us knows even the next moment. Life appears predictable, yet remains deeply unpredictable. We were all reminded of this during the years of the pandemic. For me, this awareness became sharper after my own near-death experience from a severe COVID-19 infection.

Since then, the preciousness of life feels qualitatively different. I do not feel fully healed from that realization, but I try to live as if the rest of my life has been given as an addition. Something extra. Paradoxically, when life no longer feels like it belongs to you, when it feels entrusted rather than owned, it becomes easier to live it for others rather than for yourself. And in that way, life feels genuinely blessed.

For this reason, I hesitate to set personal goals. If I must set any, they are not about achievement, but about usefulness. How much more valuable can this given life become when it is used selflessly. Perhaps this is what it means to be selflessly selfish.

So my prayer for 2026 is simple. That God would use me as His instrument, in whatever way and however His will unfolds. If that happens, then each day and each moment, regardless of circumstance, can become a quiet manifestation of His will.

That is my wish as I step into 2026.