PART I
Into 2026 we march with renewed faith in humanity and awakened senses about the world around us, a sense of strong identity, passion for life and all that the future holds. Making a conscious decision, a focused pathway on how to best improve, edit, and garner momentum in one’s own lives, is a positive way forward at any time of year.
If only we all did this rather than shine the spotlight on the frailties, and inadequacies, the foibles, and stumbling of others, we could actually make the new year, a new place of better understanding and better living.
New Year’s resolutions, the debunked myth of folks setting goals and deadlines that are either not reachable, not sustainable, or not anywhere near realistic, is nothing new. From health and fitness goals to friend and relationship goals, to career and achievement goals, the list is seemingly endless. Yes, I do agree that having a sense of what one wants to achieve is always a requirement, and yes one does have to have a plan in place in order to come anywhere near achievement of said goals, but a healthy dash of reality, with a strong dose of accomplishment for what has been already reached, is a good way forward. Unfortunately, this seems to be in the ‘few and far between’ category!
Wanting to become healthier, wanting a ‘better body’ is never a bad thing, and we all know that the healthier we are the better we can function in our very own day to day lives. The saying “health is wealth” is a cardinal truth because being healthy sets the building blocks to work towards accomplishing what we may desire in life, with the basic physical raw materials set in place to achieve them. Again, I would like to emphasize and underline ‘health’, not the look of the individual is what is of utmost importance. What I find slightly disturbing is the frightful lengths that people would go to, in the pursuit of achieving their ‘goal aesthetic body,’ while clearly endangering their physical selves, mental health and well-being! Wanting to look one’s best is great, don’t get me wrong, but looking one’s best and killing oneself in the process, not so great! This is where, unfortunately a lack of self-awareness, and basic knowledge into health sciences is sorely lacking, and in turn leaves the most vulnerable to myth and madness, open to quacks selling them ‘magic potions’ and ‘poison pills’ in a dastardly pathway to ‘achieving’ what may not be realistically achievable at all.
True these peddlers of pills and potions should be behind bars for their misadventures in claiming miraculous changes to health and physiology, and it is up to the so called ‘governing bodies’ to make sure they are tried and trussed up! Apart from this as consumers should we not also have a semblance of common sense? Should we not have the ability to decipher between fact and fiction? Fantasy and reality? Apparently, not when it comes to health and well-being. I have seen numerous deeply disturbing pill peddlers online selling whitening, brightening, albeit frightening pills with seemingly no quality control whatsoever, along with weight loss or weight gain pills that are with absolutely no scientific proof or testing mentioned. That adage ‘if it is too good to be true, it is not’ should be a guiding factor here especially when the before and after results shown are fantastical to say the least. Those who want to go and get their skin lightened via intravenous methods, it is their right and their prerogative. Their bodies, their decisions I say. But please do stop trying to pass them off as ‘vitamin drips’ energy boosting, re-vitalizing when all you want it to lighten your genetically bestowed complexion! You want to be whiter, good luck. Stop the nonsense of trying to make it seem what it is not!
The same when it comes to the GLP-1 brigade who are getting themselves jabbed with the weight loss Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Wegovy, etc. just to lose that final sliver of weight, but again, their bodies their decisions. The sad part is the masquerade where the disappearing divas who shed the weight thank their trainers, nutritionists, podiatrists, manicurists, parish priest, butcher, baker and candle stick maker etc. when in reality they have just taken an injection to lose weight. They put it down to hikes, and bikes etc. when all they really did was pay the requisite price, get in ‘stealth-mode,’ creep into a hospital where money and not health is the defining factor, for their desired injectable. No one cares, no one is that invested in your personal weight-loss journey, so why the bad acting, and pretending? annoyance for those of us who behold this, especially when the weight-loss it is sudden and drastic and these folks are quite often, the laziest of the lazy! So, claiming the ‘exercise did it’, is a hilariously, pathetic insult to our intelligence, and far reach of reality.
The same goes for the guys who are pumped full, literally and figuratively, of steroids, and claim that it is their protein supplements and nutritional fine tuning, along with their workouts that have transformed them from Steve Rogers to Captain America! Again, most of these so called ‘natural’ guys who claim they have never taken steroids, are alcohol swigging, late night partying, substance inhaling party boys, who jab themselves and then go out and lift a double-decker bus! Natural? I think not. Knowing as we do how hard one needs to train, and the extra time and effort needed to be a ‘natural’ steroid free gym guy, many of those we see are in the ‘doubtful’ category. Tell it like it is, because in all fact, it is no one’s business. I color my hair, and have no issues saying so. We also have those who color, extend, re-texturize etc. and pretend they were genetically inclined to be so. The energy spent on the pretense is mind boggling.
So, as we move to the ‘new’ in 2026, can we also ‘re-new’ the need to be rooted in reality, and authenticity? It is as I said, no one’s business if you want to be thinner, whiter, more muscular, or more anything. How about we stop the bad play-acting and just be authentic? It is exhausting to listen to fables, while pretending to believe them when it is so clear that the distortion of reality is nothing short sad, while fooling no one, but themselves. As we move through this new beginning of the new year, let us make a pact with ourselves to de-compress, and de-stress while making the pathways wonderfully illuminated, amplified in truth and crystal-clear authenticity. It is not that difficult. After all, we ARE in a
new year!
