Letting Go and Moving On

Many of us like to think of a new year as a new beginning. It feels like a clean slate: a moment when we can pause, perhaps set intentions, and incorporate changes that are important to us. For others, it’s just another day in life’s ongoing journey. Many people described 2025 as a bittersweet year, but perhaps most years are generally bittersweet—filled with challenges, joys, loves, and losses.

To ensure that the transition from one year to the next goes smoothly, consider maintaining normal routines rather than making major unnecessary changes; reflect on highlights of the previous year; think about lessons learned; and consider what changes you’d like to incorporate in the coming year.

Year of the Snake to Year of the Fire Horse

According to the Chinese Calendar, on February 17, 2026, we will be transitioning from the year of the snake (2025) to the year of the fire horse (2026). As the snake does, 2025 was a year of shedding and letting go. People have spoken about undergoing significant transformation and growth. For others, there may have been subconscious healing, leaving them feeling better and more at ease.

Letting go can be challenging, whether you’re letting go of a relationship, a job, a dream, a belief, or changing a behavior. Letting go can also be seen as a kind of decluttering—of things or situations in your life that you can release. This process can create space for peace, freedom, and renewal.

It’s important to remember that letting go doesn’t mean starting over; it means we’re evolving. Perhaps you have decided to let go of a behavior that has affected your ability to lead a harmonious life. Perhaps you’ve decided not to hold on to an ancestral belief system. Or maybe you have decided to let go of a pattern of behavior that has been affecting your harmonious life. Maybe you have lost a loved one and are learning how to navigate the world without them.

The Loss of a Loved One

If you have recently lost a loved one, it means that you had to let go of your relationship with someone who played an important role in your life. This results in a huge life transition. You probably had no control over losing them, but you do have control over how you deal with how the loss affects you in your life moving forward.

In his poignant book, The Five Invitations, Frank Ostaseki, an American Buddhist leader in the field of end-of-life care and the founder of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, speaks of death as the elephant in the room. Death is huge, and although we are well aware of it, many people feel awkward, uncomfortable, or afraid when discussing it.

When helping individuals in the end-of-life program, he guides participants with five invitations. They can be summarized as follows:

• Don’t wait (to engage with life; give forgiveness)
• Welcome everything, push away nothing (suspend judgement, be open)
• Bring your whole self to the experience (don’t worry about presenting a positive-image)
• Find a place in the middle of things (even in the midst of chaos, rather than waiting until a to-do list is finished)
• Cultivate don’t know mind (be curious, open, full of wonder, and ready to meet what shows up)