Every turn of the calendar snags us on the same bramble: become someone else, quickly. We tug, we tear, and call it progress. Tonight we trade the makeover for a tree’s wisdom. A new year is not a costume change; it’s a branching—a living extension of the trunk you’ve grown ring by ring. Branches don’t erupt from air; they emerge where the wood is ready, where sap already flows. That is mercy: you do not start from zero, and you do not have to rip free of yourself to grow.

The north keeps this picture close. Yggdrasil stands scarred and steadfast—roots in mystery, crown in weather, trunk bearing the marks of seasons survived. New growth doesn’t erase old rings; it depends on them. In that light, a “hangup” at the new year is not failure; it’s friction—the bark reminding you where strength lives and where reach would split the grain. The question shifts from “How do I reinvent?” to “Where can I honestly extend?” Some years ask for leaves; some ask for thicker bark. Both are growth.

We’ll name the temptations plainly. Frenzy masquerades as commitment. Comparison dresses up as inspiration. Shame pretends to be a coach. None of these feed a branch. What does? Warmth (kept promises, however small), water (the ordinary care you stop apologizing for), and light (truth told without embroidery). Boundaries are not fences around your life; they are the crotches that keep a limb from shearing under weight. Hospitality is not performance; it is the shade you offer while you grow.

If you feel caught on last year’s thorn, stop pulling. Feel the snag, free it gently, and face the sun you can actually see. The old ways don’t demand a different soul each January. They ask for fidelity to the one you carry—stronger trunk, truer reach, one living branch sized to the season. New year, same roots—new green, when it’s time.

Today’s show sponsored by Zeal Pet Foods.

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— Be well my friends,

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