Carrying the Year Forward with Gentleness

As the year draws to a close, many people feel the quiet (or loudness) pressure to evaluate, resolve, and reinvent.

To tally achievements. To measure progress. To promise change.

But more often than not, the end of a year feels less like triumph… and more like tiredness.

It can carry relief alongside grief, gratitude alongside exhaustion — and many things that remain unfinished or unnamed.

All of that belongs.

You are not required to wrap your year into a neat bow. You do not need to declare a “new version” of yourself to move forward.

Sometimes the most meaningful closing is gentle rather than dramatic.

A Small Pause for Transition

Wherever you are, take a quiet moment.

Place your feet on the floor. Let your shoulders soften.Rest one hand on your chest.

Ask yourself, without judgment:

• What did this year teach me about myself?

• What feels heavy that I don’t need to keep carrying into the new year?

• What am I quietly proud of surviving?

Take one slow breath.

Silently offer yourself this truth: I don’t have to fix myself to move forward — I can carry myself gently instead.

As 2025 Comes to a Close

If you’re ending the year with tenderness rather than clarity — you are not behind.

Growth doesn’t always make noise. Sometimes it looks like softening. Like resting.Like becoming kinder to yourself than you were before.

And that is enough.

🤎 Dr Dom

Counselling Psychologist