The end of the year is usually a time for reflection.

Although I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I can’t help but replay my year and examine past events.

There’s something about new years that makes me want to contemplate. When I think about 2025, I’ve had many ups and downs. The downs may have outweighed the ups, but I’ve powered through the challenges anyway.

My roller-coaster year is coming to an end, and as I reflect on my memories and experiences in 2025, a Japanese proverb keeps coming to mind:

Nana korobi ya oki.

It means “fall seven times, stand up eight.”

I keep thinking about how many times I have failed in my life…how many times I’ve been hurt, disappointed, and heartbroken. I can’t even count how many times I have given up or refused to persevere.

Regardless of the outcome, there’s always been hope. I don’t even know how I always muster up the courage to face my problems and move beyond them, but I do know this: Every time I fall, I stand up and walk again.

For me, this intention is more important than anything. We should all accept the fact that life is full of hardships. In 2026, let’s focus more on how to get back up and less on how to avoid the “fall.”

Because the truth is we will all fall.

We will fail.

We will be hurt.

We will hurt others.

We will be disappointed.

We will make mistakes.

We will be stressed.

We will be confused.

We will give up.

We will get upset.

We will get scared.

However, instead of dodging life’s unfortunate events, maybe we need to learn how to persevere—how to see setbacks as growth, not defeat. We need to keep trying because that’s real strength.

Setbacks are an inevitable part of life. When we say yes to life, we say yes to all its parts—the good and the bad. We say yes to success and failure simultaneously.

May this old Japanese saying inspire us to keep going, to keep trying, and to keep getting back up.

May it teach us true resilience in the face of pain.

May it encourage us to accept life’s most difficult complexities.

Let 2026 be our opportunity to stay present and focused on what we can control rather than resisting our painful situations.

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