Courage, Growth, and Doing It Scared: My 2025 Recap & HPUD

I hope you all had an amazing time welcoming 2026.

A few days before 2025 ended, my social media feeds were full of year-end recaps from friends and family. I planned to make one too, but I almost didn’t. I felt like I didn’t do much last year. But when I checked my gallery... photos & videos, I realized I did so much more than I remembered. I'm sooo glad I did take those picture and videos!

I’ve always been my own biggest critic. I often feel like I’m either doing too much or not doing enough. But 2025 slowly taught me that life is too precious to overanalyze every step. I learned to do things while feeling scared and excited at the same time. If the goal is to experience, we don’t really lose anything… we only gain lessons.

Whenever life felt overwhelming, I kept asking myself one question: But did I die?

It started as a half-joke, half-comforting reminder after getting through difficult moments. Those days when I thought the stress, pressure, and uncertainties would completely break me. Sometimes I believe certain situations will be the end of me but more often than not, they aren’t.

They hurt, yes, but every time I survived something I thought I couldn’t, I gained a little more courage. I realized that if I made it through once, I could do it again. That mindset helped me show up for life more bravely.

---

A friend asked me this question while we're catching up.

What did you discover or learn about yourself this 2025?

Here are some of my realizations:

I love being spontaneous.
I used to rely heavily on strict plans, but this year I learned to enjoy sponty (but still budgeted 😅) experiences. One Friendsmas even made my friends point out how spontaneous I’ve become and I agree!

Green is my color.
I’ve always been associated with blue: soft, calm, and light. People even gift me blue things! 😂 I love black and silver, but 2025 made me realize how much I love green: moss, jade, forest green, all the pretty greens!

I would be a very attentive mom.
I don’t have kids yet, but I have three dogs I treat like my babies. One vet visit last year cost me over 15k only to find out my dog was allergic to chicken 😂 Still, the peace of mind that came with it was worth it.

I’m a great baker (apparently!).
I started baking again after years of not doing it, and my youngest sister told me I’m really good at it. I guess as we grow older, we naturally find our way back to the hobbies we loved when we were younger.

I can thrive in places I never imagined.
Working in the editorial department, who would’ve thought I’d end up coding at work and even getting commended for it? Now I’m the go-to person for coding and I’m happy I’ve been able to thrive here, even though I only learned it out of curiosity.

It’s funny how curiosity works!! I try something just to see what happens and suddenly it opens doors I never expected. Being curious really pays off, and it reminds me to keep exploring, learning, and stepping into things that scare me a little.

I’m still afraid of taking risks but I’m more excited now. Even when things don’t work out the way I hoped, I see them as wins because I experienced them and learned something new.

Boots are part of my personality now.
I used to love heels and flats but now, it's boots! My Dr. Martens Chelsea boots are my current favorite. They're comfy for long walks and rain-friendly!

I can still finish a book in one sitting.
It’s been years since I last did that but I’m finally back to reading! I can’t wait to slowly finish my to-read pile this year (and of course share my book thoughts here soon!)

I love my alone time.
Solo dates and dining alone, doing random errands by myself feels peaceful. Something about it is sooo comforting!

---

Overall, 2025 was filled with experiences I’m deeply grateful for! Musicals, concerts, travels, short trips, bonding moments, my furbabies, and people who remember me in the simplest ways.

Thank you to everyone who keeps reading my blogs and interacting with me. I hope you stick around as I keep sharing my stories and experiences here.

I’m already claiming that 2026 will be an amazing year 🤩

I’ve started taking action toward my goals and one of them is joining HPUD! My goal before the year ends is to reach 5,000 HP, and of course, to start reaching that goal, I powered up 10 Hive! There’s no better way to welcome each month than choosing to grow, little by little.

What a great way to remind me to chase my dreams this 2026. Here's my Co-Star app notification today:

So let’s chase our dreams this 2026! Wishing us all more courage, growth, and meaningful experiences ✨