I feel like it’s something that I say every year, but I’m going to say it again. I can’t believe that it is the end of the year, again. Where did the time go? Every year seems to go by faster and faster. Every year starts out new, fresh, full of hopes and dreams and goals for the upcoming year. Then before I know it, the year is coming to a close and I look at that list of hopes and dreams and goals still unfinished.
But this year, I think it would good to shift focus away from all of the hopes, dreams and goals that didn’t get done and instead consider the things that did get done. Whether they were on my ‘list’ or not.
When this year was just starting, I really had no idea what it was going to bring. I had ideas of some of the things I wanted to do or accomplish. But I really didn’t know what twists and turns would find their way into my life before the year was over. I didn’t know what hopes, dreams and goals would change as a result this year. I guess if I’m being honest about it, I could say that when this year started, I didn’t even know what I wanted to happen this year. And I expect in some ways that same result again next year. But in the meantime….
Headaches
In 2025 I had less headache days than I think I have had in years. Mostly due to not having very many headaches in October and November. (If only I could figure out what was different and maintain that.)
Decluttering & Minimizing
In 2025 I dug in and worked on decluttering and minimizing things in my house. Now, I didn’t actually weigh anything that left my house. But considering that I got rid of the entire contents of a yard sale, put an extra three bags a week out to the trash an average of every other week this year and made a LOT of trips to a local resale store, I truly believe that I got rid of at least a TON of stuff. I do mean quite literally at least 2000 pounds of stuff. Maybe more considering that I did some math on it and three bags every other week, with an average weight of 20 pounds each, over the course of a year would come to 1,560 pounds. And that’s just what went to the TRASH. I gave stuff away. One week I took probably at least a dozen bags (small duffle size) to church with me and just gave stuff away. Plus the whole yard sale’s worth of stuff. Goodness, maybe I got rid of closer to 2 tons this year! And I haven’t missed any of it. I had no idea I had this much stuff. And I’m not done yet! I didn’t even have this on my list of resolutions but here I am at the end of 2025 dragging possibly 4,000 less pounds around in my life. That is amazing and for sure something worth celebrating.
New Website
In 2025 I created a new website for my blog. I got it all set up with new pages, all of the old posts and many new posts. I argued with Google a lot it felt like to try and make sure everything was visible. Still not 100% confident on that one, but I do know that it’s much more visible now. I created a shop with various items that I have designed and/or use. My most recent count of views for the month of December was 1,020, so that’s a huge step up from the probably 12 views of a year ago.
Graduation
In 2025 I graduated one of my sons from homeschooling. He is now getting ready to start his second semester of college. Which means that I now have two college students in the house, which has created some new challenges that we have been trying to find a balance in.
I could keep going, but I think you are getting the idea. Just because you or I don’t check every box, or ANY boxes off of our New Year’s resolutions list doesn’t mean that we didn’t accomplish some really great things this year. For some of us, just making it to the end of the year might be an accomplishment. I remember New Year’s 2019. I stayed up until midnight that year. Just so that I could make sure that the decade ended. I just needed it to end. There had been way too much for way too long and I just needed it to be done. I felt like I needed that decade to just end. And I stood there in my kitchen and watched the clock flip over to midnight and I just cried. Because as much as I wanted that new year to make everything better, I knew life didn’t work that way. But I made it through that year. And the next. And the next. Until I made it to a year where I managed to do more than just make it though.
Today I am so thankful to God that I can mark 2025 as a year that I did more than just survive. Despite all of its challenges, its losses and hurts, looking back, somehow, I thrived.
Do more than just survive. thrive.
Photo by: K. Seeley
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