DON'T LET YOUR FIGS ROT

December arrives like a inspector.

- By Thaliba Cader

It steps into the room, closes the door softly, and asks a single question: What did you make of the year that was placed in your hands? If you are here, reading this, the answer is probably not simple. You might have had twelve clean opportunities, twelve fresh beginnings, twelve imagined turning points, yet somehow watched them dissolve into one another.Perhaps you tried. Perhaps you hesitated. Perhaps life moved faster than you were able to catch up. For many of us, this annual reckoning feels familiar. Another December, another slow unwrapping of ambitions that did not survive the calendar. It is natural to wonder where you went off course. Were your dreams too extravagant. Were your expectations heavier than the year could reasonably carry. Or did the unexpected happen, as it often does, pulling your time and attention toward survival rather than progress. Maybe you planned meticulously. Maybe you planned nothing at all, trusting a late-night manifestation video to carry the weight of cosmic responsibility. Meanwhile, everyone else seems to present their version of December with glossy edits and curated grace. Their year-end vlogs appear complete, orderly, celebratory. It is tempting to believe the illusion. But why did things not fall into place for you. Or did they almost fall into place. Maybe you wanted to travel to Paris. Maybe you hoped to finally send that application for your master’s degree. Maybe you wished that this would be the year you found someone to love. Desperation, however, is not the same as direction, and self-blame rarely tells the truth. Last December, you held your figs, those tender ambitions, those shimmering standards, and somewhere along the way you loosened your grip. This year they did not ripen, and now you find yourself quietly crafting a smaller, safer 2026. Before you settle for less, pause. Look back at the year through a lens that includes context. How many unexpected storms moved through your life. How many responsibiliti