Takeaways!!!

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Isn’t it crazy that the first quarter of the year is already over?

It feels like time is moving fast and slow at the same time. Like… how are we already in April? And yet, it somehow feels like we’ve been in this year for a decade.

A lot has happened in my life in just three months. But one question has been tugging at my heart lately: “What have I taken away from the first quarter of the year?”

And the funny thing is, I’m not really a reflective person. I don’t usually sit down and think deeply about things like this. So this question felt strange… almost uncomfortable.

But I had no choice. I actually had to pause, sit with myself, and think.

After thinking about it, I decided why not share? Here are a few of my takeaways from Q1 2026.

Regulate Your Emotions & Practice Discipline

At the beginning of the year, I attended a mentorship program, and one thing that stood out to me during one of a speaker’s session was the concept of regulating emotions. Simply put, it means not letting your feelings control your actions.

Because the truth is, we can’t always act how we feel. If we did, the world would be in even more chaos than it already is. These days, a lot of people hide under “I’m just expressing myself,” but honestly, sometimes it’s just a lack of discipline.

The speaker used examples like Epstein and Diddy, and then compared them to Joseph in the Bible.

Those men didn’t become who they are overnight. It started small, little desires, little compromises. But because they didn’t check themselves, didn’t regulate those emotions, it grew into something destructive.

Then there’s Joseph. He had the perfect opportunity to do wrong, no one was there, everything was set. But he chose discipline. He said no. And even though it landed him in prison, we all know how his story ended.

The truth is, I already knew this somehow, but hearing it in this light kinda changed my perspective on certain things and made me more conscious of certain feelings.

Because I’ve had habits I knew weren’t good for me. Things I struggled to stop. But this reminded me that it’s not enough to just know something is wrong, you have to actively deal with it.

We’re human, yes. We’ll have thoughts, urges, imperfections. But what’s not okay is letting them grow unchecked.

Love Is more than Excitement

This one? Whew. It humbled me. When it first settled in me, I was like, “What do you mean love is more than excitement?”

Again, this is something I already knew, but being a huge lover of love, I subconsciously settled for only the excitement part, like, in my head, that was the only definition of love: excitement.

But in this first quarter, I got to see, know, and experience that the idea I had in my head isn’t exactly true. Love is more than excitement.

You can meet someone amazing, kind, sweet, everything, and feel this rush of excitement. And it feels real. It feels deep.

But that isn’t the only marker of love.

There comes a point where that excitement fades. And that’s when the rubber meets the road. That’s when you see what’s actually there.

Some people have never truly been in love. They’ve just been in prolonged excitement.

Love is deeper than butterflies. Deeper than feelings.

Love is a choice. It’s consistently choosing that person (when the excitement has gone) over and over and over and over and over again! And the greatest example of that is Jesus.

He didn’t go to the cross because it felt good. He chose it. He chose people who didn’t even love Him back.

That really settled something in me this quarter.

The Devil Is a Liar

This one sounds so simple, but I realised I didn’t fully understand it before. We say it all the time: “The devil is a liar.” But do we actually believe it?

In the Bible (John 8:44), Jesus calls Satan the father of lies. That means everything he says is a lie. Not some things, not most things.

Everything!!!!! Every single thing!

So why do I (we) sometimes believe the thoughts he plants?

“You’re not good enough.”

“You’re behind in life.”

“You’re not beautiful.”

“You’ll never figure it out.”

They are all lies!!!

Because if he is a liar, then nothing he says can be true, no matter how real it feels. No matter how long the problem or challenge or feeling has stayed, it’s still a lie.

And I’ve realised that most of his lies come in subtle, negative thoughts. Especially the ones that go against God’s word.

That’s why knowing God’s word is so important, because it helps you recognise the lies and deal with it before you accept it as your truth.

This understanding has genuinely brought me peace.

So… those are a few of my takeaways from just three months. It wasn’t easy to sit and reflect like this, but I’m glad I did.

Now I’m curious, what are your takeaways?