I have a growing collection of fortunes that come from my Chinese takeout cookies. I mean why wouldn’t I keep them? Perfect little words of encouragement, some more ridiculous than others, that I place in random locations so I can pull them out when I need them.
My most recent fortune said this, “this year, let go of fear and embrace courage in all aspects of your life.”
I can confidently say that the end of 2025 and thus far into 2026 has proven that as a major theme, whether I like it or not. Most of the time I have not, to be clear. I can also say with confidence that I will be left with no choice but to let go of my fear and embrace courage for a long while yet. Not just because I need to, but because I am ready to.
Not in any good or bad way, but I have had such a deep knowing for a while that something was coming, and when it did, I was going to be moving full speed ahead.
So I prepared, I rested, and now that time has come.
First was my experiment of living in a different city. We all know by now that wasn’t the city for me, but every moment of that experience made me step up and take action in situations I had never been in before. I left that experience exhausted, but with so much more hope for what I was going to create for my life next.
Next, is completely changing my living space from what it looked like when I created it as a teenager, to whatever the adult version of myself makes of it. This is arguably much more exciting than career insecurity and relationship fails, but I am fully honoring the previous versions of myself that have lived in this space and making room for the new versions of me to exist.
After that? So much more. Finishing books, trying new things, travelling again, maybe even moving again, or maybe not, re-entering my old job, or perhaps getting a new one or both, saying goodbye to old relationships and welcoming new ones.
To get to this point I’ve had to lose a lot, to fight tooth and nail to get what I want and deserve, and it might sound dramatic, but I swear it’s true. I have earned the good things that are coming for me, and for the first time in my life I might actually believe that I deserve them.
I’m ready and I’m patiently waiting for the next thing to come along.
However there was one thing above all else (besides my family of course) that made me get up every single day and put one foot in front of the other even on the worst of days…and that was my hopes and dreams.
Another fortune cookie said this, “your dreams are the guiding lights in the darkness.”
This is the truest thing I have ever heard, especially with the current state of the world. We would be nowhere without the guiding light of what we hope to see come true, what we hope to accomplish in our short lifetimes.
That was certainly the case for me. I desire for so much, and it took some very unfortunate situations, some very heartbreaking relationships, and some very disappointing alternatives to understand what it is I truly want for myself. Maybe it wasn’t understanding exactly, but certainly to release the expectations of what I should want and be brave enough to acknowledge what I really want.
Throughout the last handful of months, my dream of being a published author, to potentially own my own business, and eventually to own a beautiful home has become an even greater sense of motivation for me. Throughout each and every dark moment I have had recently, no matter how dark my mental state had been, it was that vision that sustained me, and now I am in as close of a place as I’ve ever been to truly be able to make that a reality.
I hope we can all feel renewed by that sentiment. That our dreams, whatever they may be, are the guiding lights throughout our darkness. The green light at the end of the dock, our north star, the grasshopper on our shoulder, the white rabbit we follow through Wonderland.
Whatever analogy you prefer will make sense, I assure you, as long as you hold that vision in your mind tightly and unapologetically.
The fact of the matter is our dreams only make sense for us. I am certain that I have friends that believed me insane for doing what I have, and I them in many ways.
In many more ways, you will be called to make decisions that won’t make sense to anyone but you, because intuitively you are being called to do so.
That is the true thing, that is the right thing for you. Sometimes the world works hard so that we cannot hear those calls, or we miss them. We can’t let that happen!
Above all, I strongly believe that what is our calling will keep calling, and but it will pass us by if we are not ready to reach for it. It might take our entire lives to work towards that readiness, or we can start before we feel even remotely ready and still get to where we need to be. Maybe even faster than we originally imagined we would.
I hope that your dreams become clearer if they haven’t already or if they are, that you are working everyday towards that future. You owe it to yourself and to every version of who you have been to at least try.
Dreams may change, and that’s ok. But nothing changes if nothing changes. The importance of our 20’s is that everything is meant to change. It has to change, or we risk never becoming everything we are meant to be. It will be hard, it will be great, it will be everything in between.
So Zoom Out and see the road that your life is headed down. Where do you need to change directions? What places do you need to leave entirely? Who might you need to leave behind or invite in?
If you aren’t sure where to start, maybe a fortune cookie can point you in the right direction…you never know!
Zoom Out, and let your dreams be the guiding light through your darkness.
A Series of Observations 