Survive.
I fell at the end of 2024, literally, and spent most of 2025 trying to get back up again. Honestly, I’m still trying to get back, but now that I know I will also spend 2026 trying to survive, I feel more prepared. That’s a separate topic for a different day.
While I was trying to put the pieces back together, I was losing so much of myself. I didn’t turn to my usual mechanisms for coping, such as this blog, music, overanalyzing books like I’m a professional book reviewer. I started different projects and creative endeavors, but they didn’t make it past being an idea.
If you look back and don’t count the 2024 recap blog posts, I only did six writings on the blog this year. Any time I thought about writing, I went on a side quest, as the kids say, and started making changes to the blog to get it back up-to-date to where I currently am in the train wreck that is my life.
Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot of good in 2025, between friends getting married and witnessing my dog grow into herself in the midst of the chaos. There was also an overwhelming amount of bad, even going back a week when my house started overheating (long story that isn’t my fault).
Through all the survival, I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I deserve out of life. Despite everything, I did a decent job prioritizing myself, but I fully intend on doing better next year. Whether it’s doing my full skincare routine everyday or not answering people who only bring negative energy into my life, I am fully the priority.
Somewhere in the midst of trying to survive, I found a peace within myself, and I’m going to spend the next year protecting it. I’m going to work on elevating myself and my desires for life, so I can get out of the normalcy of working three jobs to make it paycheck to paycheck.
I got so used to the pain of 2025 that I stopped crying and, at one point, started believing I was worthy of all the horrible things happening to me. However, the past month was spent debunking that thought process and reflecting on what I’ve learned while fighting through the pain to survive.
I am meant to thrive.
