Beginning Without Certainty

Becoming| Reflective Essay

Welcome to 2026

January carries a particular kind of pressure. One I refused to succumb to this year.

New starts. Fresh resolve. Clear intentions. We’re told this is the moment to decide who we’re going to be…Again.

But many of us begin the year without certainty. Without clarity. Without the energy to reinvent ourselves. After my personal hardships of 2025, I find myself in that category. I just can’t and accepting that doesn’t disqualify us from beginning.

In the stories I write, change rarely starts with confidence. It begins with willingness. A small decision to keep going. To remain open. To trust that God can work within ambiguity, not just through bold declarations. Since I have no bold declarations for this year…yet. I’m trusting God to work with the little…well one thing I got going on for now.

Faith doesn’t require a full plan. It requires presence.

You can step into a new year still carrying questions. Still moving slowly. Still unsure how the story will unfold. God does not wait for certainty before He walks with us.

Beginnings don’t have to be loud to be real. Sometimes they sound like a quiet yes. Sometimes they look like staying. Sometimes they feel like nothing at all… until you look back and realize something has shifted.

If this year begins softly for you, that may be exactly how it’s meant to begin.

Be good to yourself.

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Unoma