Ring In 2026

🤔 As we ring out the old and ring in the new – I thought I would reflect on this year (2025).

🙏 I am thankful for the experiences (good and tough) which helped me learn and grow as a human being. It is the human capacity for endeavor and imagination that makes great things possible. 

🙏 I am thankful for the people who have enriched my life

 ⭐ For my family and friends who have stood by me through my life. Some are here – some have passed on and I know when we meet again – we will have rich stories to tell. 

 ⭐ For my colleagues - who literally weather the storm with me on a daily basis. We work hard to deliver an important mandate and your passion for service inspires me. 

 ⭐ For my students - who bring an intergenerational perspective and help keep my feet on the ground. I have watched many of you grow in your profession and personal life. It is a priviledge to contribute a small part to your journey. 

 ⭐ For my rich network of people who work with me on my many projects – we share the same interest – to make a better world. Thank you.  Many of you are volunteers with already packed lives. 

🙏 I am thankful for the places I have lived in. Each country has sheltered me and mine and I have learnt about the culture, the history, and the food. My extended friends have become like family there. It is a blessing to have travelled and even more, a joy to learn from others, to reflect on how we do not choose where or to whom we are born and learn about circumstances that color our worldview.

🙏 I am thankful for the planet and its rich diversity. We take so much for granted yet the smell of an ocean or the rain on a parched earth, the warm caress of a breeze, the softness of a pet, the colors of a butterfly or a flower or the designs of a leaf or a snow crystal all never seize to amaze me. How beautiful is your world - it is a gift we should cherish.

💔 While I am thankful – I also must say my heart bleeds with the burden that so many have suffered in the past year and many families are broken. May God help each one of them and may we be kinder in spirit, more compassionate in our actions, and have a more forgiving  heart as that is what makes us human. 

Wishing you all Peace, Joy, Health (and Healing) and Prosperity. Towards an awesome 2026. 

[Image by Google Gemini (Nano Banana)