A Reflection for December 24
For many people, today is known as Christmas Eve — a day shaped by long-standing traditions, family rhythms, warm gatherings, or simply the natural slowing that arrives at the end of December. Whether you celebrate Christmas or simply appreciate the pause this evening brings, it holds a quiet opportunity for leaders who have carried a great deal throughout the year.
You’ve had an extraordinary 2025.
You’ve shown resilience, adaptability, and depth.
You’ve led others, made decisions, released certain paths, and laid the groundwork for what 2026 will become.
And now, on this evening — one that blends familiarity with reflection — you have the chance to give yourself something that leaders rarely receive:
a moment of detachment.
Not detachment from the people around you.
Not detachment from celebration or tradition.
Not detachment from the holiday itself.
But detachment from the inner activity that never seems to stop unless intentionally invited to rest — the constant thinking, evaluating, projecting, planning, and striving that comes with leadership.
Tonight, even for a few minutes, you can give your mind the gift of spaciousness.
Letting the Year Rest
By now, you already know what 2025 demanded of you.
You lived it. You navigated it. You grew through it.
There is nothing you need to revisit this evening.
No mental checklist to review.
No analysis required.
No replaying of challenges or victories.
The year can rest — and so can you.
This is not avoidance.
This is wisdom.
There will be time in January for strategy, performance, goals, and execution. Tonight is different. Tonight invites you to loosen your grip on all of it — even briefly — and make room for a deeper kind of clarity to emerge.
Why Detachment Matters for Leaders
Leaders often believe they must always be “on,” even during the holidays.
The mind stays active.
The inner pressure continues.
The planning never fully stops.
But true leadership requires the ability to step back from the mind’s momentum.
When you detach — even for a short time — several things happen:
- Your nervous system unwinds.
- Your perspective widens.
- Your intuition strengthens.
- Your clarity sharpens without effort.
- And your energy reorganizes in ways that create a healthier foundation for 2026.
Detachment is not withdrawal.
It is recalibration.
It is the subtle shift from carrying everything to allowing things to be as they are, even for a moment.
It is the recognition that you don’t need to solve anything tonight.
A Simple Practice for This Evening
No matter how you spend Christmas Eve — with family, with friends, or in quiet reflection — here is a gentle practice that won’t interrupt your evening:
1. Step away for a few minutes.
Find a quiet corner, step outside for a breath of cool air, or sit alone before the festivities begin.
2. Allow your mind to soften.
Don’t push thoughts away.
Don’t chase them.
Just let them drift without attachment.
3. Feel the spaciousness beneath the noise.
Beyond all your responsibilities is a deeper steadiness — always present, always available.
4. Offer a simple “thank you.”
Not for achievements or outcomes, but for the presence within you that guided you through the year.
This gratitude doesn’t require celebration — only acknowledgment.
5. Return to your evening, but with a lighter inner step.
Enjoy the traditions, the conversations, and the warmth around you — now supported by a quieter, more grounded mind.
This is all the Eve of Detachment asks of you:
a brief pause that nourishes the leader inside you.
Positioning Yourself for 2026
Most people enter a new year already tired, already mentally overloaded, already sprinting before the race even begins. But when you take even a small pause at the end of the year — not to think, but to detach — you begin 2026 from a different foundation.
A clearer one.
A calmer one.
A more aligned one.
And it’s from this foundation that your best leadership emerges.
Your 2026 plans will grow stronger.
Your decisions will become more precise.
Your presence with clients and team members will deepen.
And your ability to lead from clarity, not pressure, will expand.
This is the power of allowing your year — and your mind — to rest.
A Closing Blessing for This Evening
So on this December 24 — whether you celebrate Christmas or simply cherish the pause — take a few minutes for yourself.
Detach from the noise.
Detach from striving.
Detach from the unending narrative of the mind.
Let the evening hold you the way it has held countless people through time:
with warmth, spaciousness, and quiet truth.
May this Eve of Detachment replenish you.
May it restore the clarity that leadership requires.
And may it prepare you to enter 2026 not from fatigue, but from grounded strength.
Merry Eve of Detachment.
May it meet you exactly where you are — and give you exactly what you need.
Author’s Note
This reflection was written on December 6 and scheduled in advance, as I am away from December 16 through January 1. I wanted to ensure you continued to receive meaningful insights during this time of year, and I look forward to reconnecting with you in the New Year.