Year End Reflection Ritual : 2025

Year End Reflection Ritual : 2025 - 2026

I came across Mel Robbins’ year end reflection ritual, six questions she has been answering for the past twenty two years. Six questions sound harmless, almost cute. Like a magazine quiz that ends with “you are a sunflower.” But once I started answering them honestly, I realized this was not a personality test. This was an emotional audit.

Let’s start with the hardest one. The low points of the year. There were some. Actually, quite plenty. I can say this without drama now, but 2025 has been my lowest year since 2013. That year taught me survival. This year tested endurance.

One of the heaviest moments came quietly, from a place I never expected to reach our home. It felt like standing in the middle of a storm that wasn’t ours to begin with, yet somehow found us anyway. My husband chose to stay when it would have been easier to leave, to keep holding the bridge together so others could cross safely. Opportunities passed by, shiny and tempting, but he remained where he believed responsibility still lived. What followed was not gratitude, but noise. Ripples that grew into waves, touching not only him, but me, and our daughters. It is a particular kind of ache when you choose integrity and discover that peace does not always arrive with it, only the quiet courage to keep standing.

And then my body decided to join the chaos. A hysterectomy, appendix laparoscopy, and ESWL for a stone heart. All at once. Ten days in the hospital. A month of total rest before I could walk again without help. There is nothing poetic about learning how to trust your own legs again. Humbling, yes. Enlightening, maybe. Annoying, definitely.

But the year was not only shadows. When I reached the question about high moments, I paused. Not because there were none, but because I realized how long I had been standing in the valley, staring at the ground, forgetting to look up.

There were beautiful peaks. A South Africa trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Ten days of Cape Town skies, ocean air, and safari tour that reminded me how small my problems are compared to a horizon that does not end. And then a UK trip for campus open days. Fourteen days, seven campuses, a road trip from Manchester to London, with cities in between and conversations in the car that felt like planting seeds for the future. Also, Java Roadtrip at the end of the year, plus my mom. Without itinerary, go show. A lot of nice surprises. Meet lots of good people, good friends. It was wonderful.

So what did I learn this year? Patience. Not the cute, inspirational quote version, but the kind that sits with uncertainty and does not demand answers right away. I also learned that there are three things I do not want to trade for anything, especially money. Health. Family. Peace of mind. Once you almost lose them, the price tag becomes very clear. And the most important lesson of the year: surrender. To The Almighty.

Then came the questions about habits. What am I going to stop doing? Doomscrolling, for sure. The main cause of brainrot and unnecessary anxiety. I am also done reminiscing about past memories that do nothing for my mental health. Nostalgia is only cute when it does not drag you backward.

What will I continue doing? Digital detox, every once in a while, without guilt. And traveling. Because traveling excites me in three phases. Before, while, and after. Planning it, living it, and remembering it. Triple joy.

And finally, what am I going to start doing? Consistency, in small honest doses. Waking up early every day, at least six in the morning. Reading the Bible every single day, even if it is just one page. Working out every day, at least fifteen minutes of core or strength training. Nothing dramatic. Just promises I can actually keep.

Six questions. That is all it took to see the year more clearly. Not as a failure. Not as a tragedy. But as a season that stretched me in ways I did not ask for, yet somehow needed. I did not come out of 2025 sparkling and victorious. I came out softer, slower, and more intentional. And for now, that feels like progress in itself.

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