Ascend
Rise!
I don’t have a word for 2026. Actually, I never have for any year, just as I never make New Year’s resolutions.
I look at it this way: there are things I do. These, I keep thinking about and executing, any and all days of the year. There is no end, there is no beginning. They are simply plans that cannot be interrupted by time.
Whether it’s on January 1 or Christmas, on my birthday or while at a funeral, these continue.
Still, there is a word that I’d like to share with you, one that defines my attitude, action, strategy, and overall life philosophy: Ascend.
There is not a single day that I don’t tap into the energy of this word. I am thinking about it as this year begins. I thought about it when I started this newsletter. It kept me going when writing The Practice of Living.
It was on my mind the day I graduated from university. It was definitely central to my thoughts when the coffin carrying my mother’s body was lowered to the grave, next to my father’s,…
