As we continue to close out 2025, it is important to realize how much I have been through and how more ground I have been. It has taken me a lot of work to get where I am today. Not just this year, but over the past couple of years. All while many changes have gone on in my life. Some of those changes have been good. Others caused setbacks for me. Another change affected not only my life, but also the lives of many others. Regardless, I am resilient as ever, picking myself back up and keep on going, working to make myself better.

I am closing this year. I am putting to rest the issues I have personally battled in my past once and for all. This will help me move on with my life. I have determined to be happy with the way things are. It is the best way to move on with my life. I don’t want to be stuck in a rut of patterns that have never done me any good.

Admitting that putting something away was hard is the first step I took. I long felt it never needed to go away. Now, I acknowledge that it has had its run long enough. It has never proven to be successful as I tried to control life. My earlier thoughts on controlling life were mistaken. I have experienced several other changes in my life over the past few years. The best way to protect myself is to continue to take care of myself. I am committed to doing this in the way that I need to.

Taking care of myself requires acceptance. This is no longer a temporary thing. It is a lifelong thing. I know that it is an everyday thing now. There are realities I must accept because I need to do the things necessary. It means that things that happened that I liked when I was unwell can no longer be. As hard as that can be to accept, I have begun to accept it this calendar year. In turn, it has made life for me easier to bear.

Many say that happiness is a choice. And indeed, it is. You have to choose to be happy with yourself and not be miserable with others and yourself. No one else deserves to be miserable with you and you don’t need to be either. Yes, life in many ways is now back to the way that it was before. I moved on my own with a twist of independence. But that independence is much better. I am choosing to make my mental health a priority. Other realms of my well-being are also prioritized over other things. That in of itself is setting healthy boundaries for myself and others. I had to learn to let go of things that were unhealthy for me. I also retooled others. This way, my life became better. It became manageable for me to exist in this world. Now, I have what I need to stay well.

I am choosing to be happy with my life the way it is. I now know that this is the only way to be happy overall in the long run. I will continue to mature and grow into the person I need to be. I will not continue to regress again and again. I will dedicate myself to moving ahead. I will be happy with the life I have to live. I will be happy as I do it.