My 2025 Wrapped
A reflection and roundup of the highs, lows, discoveries, events & in-betweens of the year 2025.
2025 was a different year for me. It came with its own vibe and it is definitely leaving with it too. Aside from any low moments I may have encountered, I can’t fail to relinquish the wonderful days it brought me and the understanding it gave me. If nothing, I would thank it for teaching me thoroughly. Now sit tight and strap up as I present to you my 2025 roundup in moderate bits and pieces.
This year spun me. I’m just getting back to what’s left of myself. I'm talking about roller coaster days, life-changing events, and the ever-surprising discoveries of the world we live in.
On the big elephant in the room (NYSC)
This right here has to be my major testimony for the year. In fact, it had been the big elephant in the room since I graduated uni back in 2021. For non-Nigerians reading this, NYSC is the National Youth Service Corps — a mandatory but sometimes optional one-year program for graduates in Nigeria. Basically, you serve the country by engaging in a 3-week paramilitary program and then work the remaining months in a company or firm as an intern or in any relevant position. It's mainly to get valuable work and cross-cultural experience as a graduate.
Now that’s not the gist. The point is, I should have gone for the program way back in 2021 or early 2022 but due to situations along the way, I stalled up until late last year. Alas, I later completed the one-year service in October and oh my days, I wouldn’t want to do that again. If you need a bit of understanding of how I must have felt working through those months, read this. It’s literally a figurative expression of my service year. But that aside, I am super grateful it got checked off my list and I can fully forge ahead without having to think of it. Thank God for that.
On self-care
Oh, how I took care of my loving self this year. I didn’t hold back and I’m happy I was able to. This year was a lot for me because I had to become a mandatory 9-5er due to NYSC and I slowly saw myself change from being at ease to being someone who was stressed to the brim. From the weirdest skin breakouts popping up on my face to me tanning so badly due to sun exposure (even sunscreen sometimes can’t withstand Nigeria’s sun), to me losing some body weight — it was the ghetto for me.
Thankfully I always took action. I invested heavily in skincare purchases and I treated myself to good meals when I could. As a picky eater, I’ve learnt that eating food I truly enjoy actually helps me eat a lot better, so I intentionally eat what I would enjoy. Also, I did a lot of comfort activities like watching a gazillion Netflix shows/movies and getting chocolate flavored banana bread almost every other day as a treat. It was indeed a good year with me taking out time to care for myself. I also invested in my craft by getting a tablet. I have always wanted a bigger screen which wasn't a laptop but something more versatile and handy. It has to be one of the happiest things I've done this year. In all, self-care took the front row in 2025.
On people & relationships
Being outside more than I ever have this year opened my eyes to a lot of things. When I resumed my place of primary assignment for NYSC, I was typically me — calm, reserved, and nice from the get-go. I thought everyone would somehow have some traits I could relate to or had a little bit of the ideologies I had (jokes on me). I mean, I know people are different but I just thought everyone would be “all good.” Now, that's so funny of me when I think of it. Turns out, people are not generally who I believe they should be. Not because they are bad but because sometimes we as humans have the tendency to just not factor in the next person into the equation. If you get what I mean. We call it selfish, self-centered, being unkind, and all other words that fit in. This discovery kind of made me slow down on my openness and being nice to people in the outside world. I felt gullible sometimes and I also felt like I wasn’t taken into perspective.
In relationships, I met really cool people this year. I’m not the friend-making machine so no luck on making a lot of them. But I was surprised at how open and chatty I could be. Like an introverted me talking really really free? That's diabolical man! On the side, I always call myself a storyteller. I tend to talk by drawing or painting a picture of things to arrive at what I’m saying. I noticed this a lot as I spoke. And I always spoke from a place of how, why, when, and what. Anyways, I yapped a lot and may have found myself in one or two awkward situations. It was a good time, all in all.
On personal discoveries
Like I said at the beginning of this post, this year has spun me a lot and I’m just getting to find myself in what’s left. Definitely in a good way. Since finishing NYSC, I’ve been able to rest and not wrestle with being up by 5:30 am. I’ve since taken out time to go slow, chill, and reset. I’ve discovered a few things from this.
Number 1 being the fact that life is not linear and you just have to trust God through it all. As a believer, one thing God had to factory reset in me was letting Him take charge. I drew out plans, drew out steps, wrote out goals but guess what? He redrew it all and said “Let’s do it my way”. Now news flash, God’s way is always so different from how you want it, see it, or expect it, but daily as I go, I’m trying to trust Him. I definitely trust Him but you know how life can lay out its dirty voice and worries? But that’s why we have God with us. To always lead us even if we fail to understand His ways.
Number 2 is mostly me discovering how much I’ve grown over the years and how trauma has shaped me a bit more than I expected. I’m learning to live daily in the best light possible because tell me how I’m just having the deepest reflections of how sick this world is?
On the things I loved & enjoyed
I enjoyed watching loads and loads of Netflix movies and shows all mostly in bed late at night and in the afternoon. I should probably share my best shows of 2025 soon.
I enjoyed the taste of banana bread in chocolate flavor. This right here had me hooked. I would eat it mostly at night as a treat after dinner or late lunch. A few occasions had me eating it in the mornings with a cold or hot beverage.
My skincare routine. To be able to figure out what to use on my sensitive acne-prone skin is such a lifesaver. My skin barrier got damaged this year which led to lots of breakouts and flare-ups. I would turn red under the sun and my face would sting at the slightest touch. I found the right products to use and while I still have occasional pimples showing up, my face has been much clearer now.
I enjoyed loads and loads of football matches. How could I forget this? The 2022 FIFA World Cup turned me into a football fan through and through. My family has always been a Manchester United fan and although the club has stressed me, this season has been better so far for us. At least as I type this, we are currently sitting 6th on the Premier League table. Catching up with other clubs has also been a highlight for me. Most of my weekends and a few weeknights have been filled with watching the Premier League or Champions League and with AFCON here already, I’m definitely eating well.
On stuff I’m not so happy about
If you know me personally, you would know how much I love global news. My mornings mostly include me watching CNN. In fact almost all afternoon and some nights. There’s a direct broadcast satellite service in Africa called DSTV. It’s one of the major TV broadcast brands that gives most homes access to TV stations and channels locally and globally.
Now, as a DSTV subscriber, I have about 4 stations I majorly rotate on. That’s CNN, Premier League channel, Blitz Africa, and TLC. There is another that I used to love which is Investigation Discovery (had to pause on watching too many true crime and murder shows, God abeg). Anyways, to cut this yap short, we all know Warner Bros. got sold to Netflix and apparently, Warner Bros. owns two of the four major channels I mostly watch — CNN and TLC. Due to this merger and acquisition, DSTV has been unable to renew the broadcasting license for reasons I can’t fully grasp.
So from Jan 1st, these stations won’t be available. I’m left with just football stations and other channels I don’t love. I legit cried when I discovered this. And yes, I know I can catch up with them on social media or substitute with other stations but for someone whose mornings and days for the past two years have mostly involved CNN and TLC, how can I not feel it?
I know I might sound crazy right now but for those who get it, you feel me right? I don’t have a solution to really fix this but daily I’m trying to move on.
That’s a total wrap of my 2025. I definitely tried to summarize it as much as I could and may have forgotten some bits but these were some of my major highlights and I’m glad I was able to share that with you.
This might be my last post for the year also. I hope and pray we have a more memorable year in 2026. I’m wishing you a wholesome Happy New Year and I can’t wait to write more lovely pieces for you in 2026.
Before you go, what was your major highlight in 2025?
