Travel Light Into The New Year
The Weary Heart #34
As the year comes to a close, I notice something about myself whenever we’re at this time of the year. Unlike some, I’m not craving excitement, big plans, or dramatic changes. Instead I crave for lightness, the kind that comes when you stop carrying burdens you were never meant to hold and drag along for this long.
A lot can happen in 12 months.
Drama, politics, betrayal, disappointments…
And so you carry most of them in your heart, you talk about very few of them - if at all.
So this is why I feel now is an important time to take stock of all the things that are occupying the spaces in your heart and mind, and set the simple (but not so easy) goal of travelling into the future “lighter” than the weight of the baggages we carry with us today.
I’m talking about the kind of lightness that calms your chest and loosens your shoulders. The kind that comes from emotional release rather than escape. Many of us aren’t tired because of work alone; we’re tired because we’re emotionally overpacked.
In our recent family trip to Japan, we decided to bring only two large luggages for a family of six for a 13-day trip. We had learnt from a similar type of holiday around two years ago that when we overpack mainly due to worry, it burdened us throughout the entire trip. Many of the things we set out to do, we weren’t able to - at least not comfortably and freely.
So before we enter into the new year, ask yourself: what baggages am I carrying?
Some baggage is obvious, like heartbreak, conflict, grief. But a lot of it is less obvious yet more familiar, like old conversations you keep replaying, disappointments you never processed properly, or expectations you’re still holding onto even though they’ve hurt you repeatedly. You tell yourself you’re fine, but your body often knows otherwise.
There’s also a tiredness that comes specifically from people. Not because you hate them or wish them harm, but because the same patterns keep repeating and you’re the one always adjusting, understanding, or letting things slide.
You can love someone and still feel worn down by their behaviour.
That exhaustion doesn’t make you bitter. It makes you honest. And honesty is often the first step towards healing, even if it feels uncomfortable at first.
A Note On Closure
We’ve been taught that closure must be mutual, that it requires a final conversation, an apology, or some neat emotional ending that leads to a clean slate. But real life doesn’t work that way most of the time. Sometimes closure happens quietly, when you stop waiting for someone to change or to finally understand how much they hurt you.
Closure, more often than not, is an internal decision rather than an external event. It’s the moment you realise you don’t need permission to move forward. You’re allowed to stop revisiting what keeps reopening the wound.
Forgiveness also deserves to be understood properly. Forgiving someone doesn’t automatically mean you have to allow them re-entry, free access, or closeness in proximity. You can forgive someone and still decide that being close to them costs you too much emotionally. #healthyboundaries
Forgiveness heals you. Boundaries protect you.
They are not opposites; they work best together.
Unresolved emotions don’t disappear with time; they simply change shape. They show up as irritability, emotional numbness, constant fatigue, or a quiet heaviness you can’t quite explain. Sometimes you don’t even remember what started it anymore, you just know you feel uncomfortable around certain people or situations.
Carrying unresolved baggage into a new season doesn’t make you loyal or strong. It just makes you tired. And exhaustion has a way of dulling all the joy inside of you, and even your hope, optimism, and faith.
Not all endings are loud or dramatic. Some relationships fade because effort becomes one-sided, and some connections loosen because values gradually drift apart. You don’t need to dramatise these endings or justify them endlessly for them to be valid.
Subtle endings are still endings. And they still free you.
The Art of Letting Go
Letting go often feels scary because it creates an empty space, and space feels unfamiliar when you’ve been used to carrying something inside of you - even if that something was pain, trauma, and extreme sadness. But space is also where healing happens. Therefore, letting go doesn’t mean you have to pretend it never hurt you; it simply means that you trust that whatever happened has passed and has left you.
So now is your time… to be free.
There’s a Hadith I often return to when I feel weighed down. Our beloved Prophet ﷺ said, “From the excellence of a person’s Islam is leaving what does not concern him.” This isn’t about apathy or indifference; it’s about discernment, about knowing what is yours to carry and what isn’t.
Sometimes faith looks like effort and perseverance. Other times, it looks like release.
As the year ends, it’s worth asking yourself this question:
What am I still carrying that no longer serves my heart?
Old guilt, unreturned expectations, or the need to be understood by people who only care about their feelings, never yours. All these do not need to follow you into the next chapter.
Friends, you don’t need to confront everyone. You don’t need perfect closure. You don’t need to have everything figured out before the year ends.
You just need to stop carrying what’s making the journey heavier than it needs to be.
Travel light into the new year, with less resentment, less emotional debt, and less weight that was never yours to begin with. Sometimes, the bravest way forward isn’t by doing more, but by finally putting things down.
Let it go,
MW
PS: If you’d like to start off 2026 feeling lighter and freer, join me and others in beautiful Lombok for a spiritual retreat unlike any other. Check it out here 🏝️