Advent Calendar Blog 2025 —Is Change Impérative?

It’s started—the familiar conversations, the casual check-ins, the quiet pressure wrapped in small talk. Everywhere you turn, the new year seems to come with an expectation of change. And while I’ve been here talking about fresh beginnings and the power of intentional shifts, I find myself pausing to ask a quieter, more honest question: what if it’s okay not to change at all?

Do we actually have to change?

As a new year approaches, that question feels almost rebellious. Everywhere we look, we’re invited—sometimes nudged, sometimes pushed—to upgrade, improve, evolve. Even the language of the calendar suggests momentum: fresh starts, bold moves, forward motion.

But what if you don’t want that? What if you want a year of staying put and maybe just breathing or, letting what already works… work.

Can you take a year and not change?

I think the honest answer is yes—and.

• Yes, you’re allowed to rest where you are.

• Yes, you’re allowed to pause the constant self-editing.

• Yes, you’re allowed to decide that nothing is broken and nothing needs fixing.

But here’s the truth: not choosing change is still a choice. And even in stillness, life continues to move.

Which brings us to the Year of the Horse I referred to in an earlier blog.

In Chinese astrology, the Horse is associated with movement, freedom, momentum, and expansion. It’s often described as energetic and forward-driving. But that doesn’t mean galloping at full speed in every direction. Sometimes, freedom looks like choosing your own pace. Sometimes, movement is internal.

The Horse doesn’t ask you to exhaust yourself. It asks you to be honest about what wants to move.

You don’t have to force change for the year to do its work. Growth can happen quietly—through integration, through appreciation, through simply living what you’ve already learned.

Maybe this is a year where you don’t reinvent yourself and maybe it’s a year where you inhabit yourself more fully. A year of “enough” can be deeply intentional.

• A year of not striving can still be a year of becoming.

• A year of steadiness can still carry meaning.

So no—you don’t have to change for change’s sake or chase momentum just because the calendar flips and you certainly don’t have to run just because the Horse is ready.

You’re allowed to walk, not run. You’re allowed to take a year and rest and regroup. There’s much to be accomplished by taking stock. No where is it written that you are not allowed to stay put.

And if something begins to shift along the way, you can trust that too—not because you planned it, but because you listened.

And perhaps most importantly, stillness gives you choice. When you’re no longer rushing toward the next version of yourself, you can sense when movement is actually needed—and when it isn’t. Change that rises from stillness is rarely frantic. It’s aligned.

Nothing is wasted in a season of stillness. I believe it sharpens discernment and prepares the ground, quietly gathering strength.

Sometimes the most radical choice of all is letting yourself be exactly where you are… and seeing what unfolds from there.