"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." Charles Dickens

Two weeks have already slipped by since we welcomed 2026, and by now, the glitter of New Year's Eve has given way to the familiar rhythm of daily life. 

The fireworks have faded, the celebrations have gone flat, and we find ourselves confronting the same challenges, the same patterns, the same stubborn realities we vowed to overcome. 

The resolutions we made with such enthusiasm on January 1st now stare back at us from our to-do lists, seeming at times impossibly distant, impossibly difficult to implement. 

Reality, as it so often does, has asserted itself with its characteristic intransigence. 

The gym membership is unused, the diet has already slipped, the ambitious reading list remains untouched.

And yet, in the midst of this familiar January comedown, there is a question worth asking: Have we at least kept the Dickens quote at arm's length? 

Have we held onto that beautiful maxim, that simple but profound wisdom, as a companion for the year ahead?

These twenty words, written more than a century and a half ago by a man who understood both the cruelty and the possibility of human existence, offer us something more durable than any resolution. 

They offer us a way of being, a posture toward life that can sustain us through the inevitable difficulties of the months ahead.

The Balance Sheet of Being: 

As we bid farewell to 2025 and step into the fresh canvas of 2026, there is a tradition we often observe: sometimes consciously, sometimes without even realising it. 

We draw up our balance sheets. We take stock. 

Did the year prove profitable? 

Did our investments yield returns? 

In brief, did we manage to increase our assets and reduce our liabilities? 

These questions, of course, are usually framed in monetary terms. Bank statements are reviewed. Portfolio performances are analysed...

The bottom line is calculated in figures that can be counted, measured, and reported- if you are well organised that is!

But what about the other balance sheet: the one that cannot be tallied in euros and cents?

What about the wealth of our hearts, the prosperity of our spirits, the dividends of our relationships? 

These are the assets and liabilities that truly determine whether a year has been well-lived, whether we have grown richer in the ways that matter most. 

And it is precisely here that Charles Dickens offers us a remarkable framework for assessment, one that transcends the material and ventures into the profound territory of human character.

The Threefold Inventory of the Soul.

Long before modern psychology began codifying the components of emotional well-being, long before self-help gurus populated bookstore shelves with their formulas for success, Charles Dickens articulated something timeless and essential. 

In his wisdom, encapsulated in the beautiful maxim, he gave us nothing less than a personal balance sheet for the soul. 

So, let us take a closer look at each item individually...

The Heart That Never Hardens

Consider what it means to have a heart that never hardens. 

We are all, in the course of a single year, wounded countless times. 

Betrayals accumulate. Disappointments mount. 

The daily news delivers an endless procession of human suffering, and even in our private lives, we encounter selfishness, cruelty, and indifference. 

The natural response: the self-protective response, is to calcify. 

We build emotional walls. 

We develop cynicism as armor. 

We tell ourselves that detachment is wisdom, that caring too much is naïve, that a hardened heart is simply a heart that has learned not to be foolish.

Dickens would argue that this is not wisdom at all but a kind of spiritual death. 

The hardened heart may spare itself future pain, but it also becomes incapable of the very experiences that make life worth living: love in its fullest sense, genuine connection, authentic compassion, childlike wonder. 

When we review our 2025 balance sheet, we must ask ourselves honestly: Did my heart remain soft and pliable, responsive to the pain and joy of others? 

Or did I allow the accumulated weight of disappointment to build calluses over its surface? 

Did I still feel the tug of empathy when I saw a stranger struggling, a friend in grief, a stranger's act of unexpected kindness? 

Or had I, perhaps without noticing, become someone who simply scrolls past, who no longer allowed oneself to be moved?

The heart that never hardens is not naïve. 

It does not mean ignoring the realities of human cruelty or refusing to protect oneself from genuine harm. 

It means, rather, refusing to let the existence of darkness extinguish the light within. 

It means maintaining the capacity to be affected, to be moved, to be transformed by encounter with other lives. 

This is an asset of incalculable value, and its depreciation throughout the year represents a loss far greater than any financial setback.

The Temper That Never Tires

Now examine your temper, your capacity for righteous passion, your refusal to accept injustice with a shrug, your zealous energy in the face of wrong. 

Dickens is not advocating for petulant anger or bitter resentment. 

He is pointing to something more profound: the flame of conviction that refuses to be extinguished, the restless drive toward fairness and goodness that keeps us engaged even when the battle seems hopeless.

Look back at 2025. Did you tire? 

Did you, at some point, simply stop caring? 

Perhaps it was gradual, almost imperceptible. The first time you saw an injustice and thought, "What's the use?" 

The first time you witnessed cruelty and decided it wasn't your problem. 

The first time you encountered a cause worth fighting for and chose comfort over conviction. 

These are the moments when a temper begins to tire, when the flame dims, when the once-fervent activist becomes a passive spectator.

The temper that never tires is exhausting, in the best possible way. 

It means staying awake to the world's suffering without becoming desensitised.

It means maintaining your passion for fairness even when it is inconvenient, even when it costs you socially, even when no one else seems to care. 

It is the opposite of the exhausted conscience that has "seen too much" and now simply scrolls past. 

It is the fire that keeps burning even when the darkness seems absolute, even when the monsters of the world appear to be winning.

This asset, too, is subject to depreciation. 

The demands of daily life, the seductions of comfort, the thousand small compromises that accumulate into a life of quiet surrender: all these work against the untiring temper. 

Your task in reviewing 2025 is to assess: Did I maintain my passion? 

Did I still feel that surge of righteous anger when I witnessed wrong? 

Did I still believe that my actions could make a difference? Or had I, without realising it, become someone who simply accepts the world as it is?

The Touch That Never Hurts

Finally, consider your touch, your way of interacting with others, your impact on the lives you encounter. 

This is perhaps the most delicate item on the balance sheet, for we are all, in our interactions with others, occasionally clumsy. 

We speak carelessly. 

We act thoughtlessly. 

We wound those we love most with the very words we intend to be kind. 

Dickens is not suggesting we become perfect, free from all possibility of causing pain. 

He is pointing to something more fundamental: the intention behind our interactions, the quality of presence we bring to our relationships.

The touch that never hurts is characterised by gentleness, by an awareness of others' vulnerability that matches our own. 

It is the hand extended rather than the fist raised, the word of encouragement rather than the sharp critique offered without grace, the embrace rather than the cold shoulder. 

It requires us to see others not as obstacles or instruments but as fellow travelers, equally fragile, equally worthy of care. 

As you review 2025, ask yourself: How did my touch affect others? 

Were there relationships I damaged through harshness or neglect? 

Were there moments when I could have offered comfort but instead turned away? 

Were there words I spoke that left wounds still unhealed? 

The touch that never hurts is a discipline, a practice, a way of being in the world that requires constant attention and intentionality. 

Its opposite: careless, harsh, wounding interactions, represents a significant liability on our spiritual balance sheet.

So as you make...

Your lists and set your goals for 2026: those worthy resolutions about fitness and finance and productivity, consider adding these commitments to your list. 

Let them be your guiding stars through the year ahead: Let your heart remain soft and pliable, responsive to the world's suffering and beauty, refusing to build walls that keep out both pain and love. 

Let your temper burn with undiminished passion for justice, for fairness, for the causes that stir your soul, never tiring of the fight even when the fight is long and victory seems distant. 

Let your touch be gentle, your words be kind, your presence be a source of comfort and encouragement to those whose lives you touch. 

And let yourself be fully present in your moments of connection, truly seeing those you love, offering them the sacred gift of your attention.

These are the assets that truly matter. 

These are the investments that yield dividends beyond anything monetary wealth could purchase. 

As you review your 2025 balance sheet and plan for 2026, remember that the richest person is not the one with the most but the one who has cultivated these capacities most fully. 

A heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, a touch that never hurts, a presence that never wavers: this is the wealth that endures, the prosperity that cannot be lost, the legacy that outlasts any financial portfolio.

May 2026 be the year you deepen these assets, and emerge richer in the ways that truly matter.

Happy belated New Year, dear reader. 

May it be your most abundant yet.

Sources:

1- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

2- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolfini_Portrait