When the Year Has Been Hard, We Keep Going

As Christmas 2025 arrives, I am lonely without my twin. Her absence has changed the way the world feels. Life for me is harder now.

I am grateful for every story shared, and for every person who has walked this journey with The CP Diary this year. What started as a space for me to express myself has become a shared space built on courage, honesty, growth, and hope.

This year hasn’t been perfect. There have been challenges, quiet battles, and difficult moments that have tested us.

These are not easy times, but through it all, one thing has remained constant: we kept going.

If this season feels heavy for you, please know you’re not alone.

Christmas reminds us to slow down and hold close to us what matters the most – connection, belief, and the simple joys of being present. My hope is that you find peace, strength, and light in the places that still feel uncertain.

Thank you for reading my articles. Thank you also for trusting me with your time and for sitting with The CP Diary.

May your homes be filled with Christmas warmth, your hearts with calm, and your 'New Year' with promise.

Merry Christmas, and here’s to everything 2026 holds. For those who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a stress-free holiday.

Thank you so much for your support,

Ilana x

Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines. Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.

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