It Is What It Is: Choosing Peace as We Begin 2026

As we step into 2026, I want to invite you to begin the year with a mindset that is often misunderstood—but deeply freeing:

Acceptance.

Acceptance is not giving up.Acceptance is not weakness.

Acceptance is taking your power back.

After more than 20 years in mental health practice, with intensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), one truth has remained consistent across the people I work with—parents, leaders, professionals, and teenagers alike:

We exhaust ourselves trying to control things that were never within our control.

Other people’s reactions.Their assumptions.Their interpretations of our intentions.

And the price we pay for this constant struggle is often our peace.