As I look back on 2025, I’m struck by how much can change in a year — and how much can heal. This year didn’t begin with certainty or calm; it began with a quiet determination to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I didn’t have a clear map, only the deep knowing that I couldn’t stay where I was. And now, standing at the end of this year, I can honestly say: I’m proud of how far I’ve come.
2025 became the year I slowly rebuilt parts of myself I once believed were permanently broken. I learned that healing isn’t a straight line — it’s a thousand small choices made on days you feel strong and on days you absolutely don’t.
There were moments that shaped me in ways I never expected. Family memories that grounded me. Conversations that reopened trust. Quiet wins that no one else saw but meant everything. And of course, one of the most beautiful surprises of the year — growing our family again, something that once felt impossible after everything we’d been through.
But this year wasn’t easy. Healing rarely is. There were setbacks, triggers, doubts, and days where I felt like I was walking backwards. Yet each time, I found my way back to myself a little quicker. That counts as growth too.
This year taught me that:
• I am stronger than the hardest thing I’ve lived through.
• I can hold both grief and joy without breaking.
• I’m allowed to protect my peace, even when it disappoints others.
• Healing doesn’t require perfection — only willingness.
If I had to choose one word for 2025, it would be reclaiming: my voice, my confidence, my safety, my hope.
If you had told me at the end of 2024 everything that was coming for me in 2025, I would’ve called it quits. There’s no way I would have believed I could handle it all. But that’s the thing about life — you don’t truly know your strength until you’re in the moment, doing what you once thought you couldn’t. We often underestimate our mental resilience, yet the universe has a way of showing us just how capable we really are.
People usually think of strength in terms of physical fitness — something you can see or measure. But strength looks different for everyone. For me, this year revealed my mental strength. I wouldn’t call myself physically strong — you won’t catch me deadlifting 150kg — but mentally, I now feel like I can take on whatever comes my way.
It’s been almost one year since discovering my husband’s affair — one year since my heart shattered, my world collapsed, and the new version of me began to take shape. I wouldn’t wish an affair on my worst enemy… not even on the woman who knowingly caused this pain. But strangely, I do believe it was meant to happen. I know that sounds crazy — maybe it is — but it forced changes in my relationship, my life, and our family dynamic. It unearthed a strength within me I didn’t know existed.
2025 taught me to live truly in the present — to understand that everything can change in an instant and we can’t put our happiness on hold. There’s no point waiting, no point stressing about the future. The time to live is now, because you never know what’s around the corner.
This year, I went from discovering my husband’s affair, hitting rock bottom mentally, and slowly piecing myself back together… to finding out I was pregnant, and then losing two of my grandparents within three months. I’ve cried, laughed, grieved, and grown. I’ve continued progressing in my career, raising a beautiful, kind, wild 2-year-old boy, and focusing on my relationship and our family. I’ve learned to hold boundaries, take time for myself, and be true to who I am. My husband has grown too — into an incredible dad and family man, putting us first while still working toward his own goals.
Do I still get triggered? Yes.
Do I still have a lot of growing to do? Absolutely.
But am I proud of how far I’ve come?
FUCK YES.
And as I step into 2026, I’m carrying the softness, the boundaries, the lessons, and the quiet belief that even after being hurt, there is still so much life left to live — and so much love left to give.
To anyone reading this who is somewhere in the middle of their own rebuilding: be gentle with yourself. Healing isn’t linear, but it is possible. And you’re further along than you think.
Here’s to another year of becoming.
Sarah xx
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