How was 2025 for you?

[pizza93878]

In 30 minutes here, it will be December 1st, the last month of the year. So, that begs the question, how do you think your year went in 2025?
This post is inspired by Sonygamer455's previous posts about this topic, so it should work the same way. And don't worry, I'll go first.

2025 has been mildly decent for me, I managed to get into GT2 modding which was a good thing, although I did lose one of my greatest opportunities to a frankly stupid reason in the spring, which wasn't very good. I have lost friends and made new ones, and I have apologised approximately 1.3 times a day.

 

[Fezzik]

I continued to exist, to have a job and to have a home.
Honestly that's about it.

This should probably go in the depression thread

 

[GBalao888]

Still been working on my film concept (I graduated from college with a degree in film two years ago and now want to do a film project of my own, yet I'm still at very early development), but at least I was able to go to Hanoi (lots of fun there, so much to do yet so little time though), my parents are renewing their vows, and that I'll be heading to France for the second time, and other regions of Europe such as Amsterdam and the three most major regions of Italy (Milan, Florence and Rome).

As for the gaming side, my PS3 gave out due to dust damage, but I was able to get Tokyo Xtreme Racer (PC), the PS5 version of Forza Horizon 5, Tekken 8, The Crew Motorfest and the Dead Space remake, and had a blast with these games.

It's been a year of many highs, especially while I'm trying to recover from being cheated on by my former girlfriend, which has been plaguing me since last year, and sometimes I'd relapse into thoughts of revenge.

 

[Dave A]

It's been a good year with some negatives here and there. Work wise, I've had a challenging but successful first full year in my new role at work managing the department I managed a team in prior. Had to let two people go in that time, both 100% deserved, but one was extremely unexpected until it wasn't. You think you know some people until they get arrested for things that might be quite shocking. But we've also hired 4 people this year too and all 4 look like successful hires and have settled in and are doing well. That doesn't always happen.

Personally, it's been pretty good for the most part. Currently in Mexico for 2 weeks. Earlier in the year me, the wife and my father-in-law spent a couple of weeks in Crete, which was great. And me and the missues had 5 nights in Athens before that. Both my parents had treatment for cancer last year but it seems to have gone successfully for both of them, though my dad is looking very frail now and we suspect he's started showing the symptoms of parkinsons, but we're waiting on a diagnosis on that.

My sister-in-law and her husband have moved back to the UK from Perth (they had been living In Sydney prior to moving to Perth due to the cost of living, but didn't settle well in Perth), so we don't need to go to Australia again. Which will save us a nice packet 😂.

 

[AudiMan2011]

If I'm honest it hasn't been the year I hoped it would. Although I did manage to get to watch the Speyside Rally and BTCC at Knockhill, this year was mainly overshadowed when my Granny passed away in April which hit me hard. With my Grandads own memory issues, things haven't exactly been looking well.

 

[MIE1992]

I feel like I've been incredibly lucky this year. My cup doesn't merely flow over - instead, it's lost somewhere in a torrential downpour.

 

[Touring Mars]

A very mixed bag for me. My job was made permanent last year and so I decided that it was time to sell my flat and buy a house this summer. I didn't quite get round to it though, but it's probably just as well...

I had an amazing summer break this year - I made it to the Nürburging 24h and Spa 24h races back-to-back this year, staying in Adenau for the 'Ring and Francorchamps for Spa. I've been to both races before, so this time I was forearmed with a decent amount of local knowledge, and both visits were pretty much perfect - I even met Kazunori Yamauchi at the Nürb, and I was on the grid for the start of the Spa 24, and also had a brilliant 'back stage' tour of the facilities at Spa as well. I didn't make it to the LM24 but I did have a ticket, but decided to do the N24/Spa24h double-header instead, and will never regret that choice - it was, frankly, mindblowing.

I turned 50 in January and this year has been a mix of 50th and 51st birthdays amongst my friends and I. My mate got a pretty crazy shock in July when he had a stroke while at the dentist - thankfully, he received immediate treatment and has since made a full recovery, but it was a kind of a wake-up call that we're now 'middle-aged', but it has also had the positive effect of making us a bit more open to talking about our changing needs, our problems and our families, as we're all going through different stuff.

After coming home from a normal day of work on Monday 1st September, I started to feel a pain in my abdomen about 8pm, and was in quite a lot of pain by the early hours. A friend took me to hospital in the morning with suspected gallbladder issues, but unfortunately it turned out to be inoperable bile duct cancer. Since then, I've moved out of my flat and back to my Mum's house, but for now I'm doing well and am being very well looked after. My treatment also started last week too. I am, however, grateful for the fact that I never got round to selling my flat and being in the middle of a house-move right now.

I must admit, that while I am not at all depressed by it, I am having some moments of upset and worry - but I've been overwhelmed by the support I've been receiving from friends, family and colleagues. I'm mildly optimistic about getting back to work, but for the moment I am focusing on eating well, staying mentally and physically as fit as I can, and getting back into some fun stuff like setting up my music studio again. I've no doubt that 2026 will be challenging, probably extremely so, but 2025 has been a reminder of how life can be a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous.

 

[Imbissbrunto]

2025 has been a bit of a mixed bag but mostly positive, especially after 2023 and 2024 which was the worst year of my life.

I got a promotion at work which is great since it involved a big pay raise and I genuinely enjoy my job but it has also been very stressful since I have to learn many new things and (obviously) lack experience in that position. But I‘m trying my best.

I‘ve also surpassed my fitness goals I set at the beginning of the year and am now in the best shape of my life at close to 35.

But the most important thing is that I was finally diagnosed with ADHD and put on Elvanse which has been helping me tremendously. It took about 6 months and close to 100 phone calls and e-mails to finally get a neurologist who would prescribe it though. The German health care system is a complete joke.

On the other hand I‘ve had some health issues related to my stomach caused by chronic stress so I‘m trying to adapt my nutrition a bit and hope it‘ll get better.

There was also a health scare involving my mom that came out of nowhere that shook me a bit.

I‘ve also had to leave some former friends behind that were a negative influence and I had a bit of a headache concerning a relationship with a girl that probably took five years off my life expectancy.

In general I‘ll have to accept that being ambitious is a good thing but I won‘t be able to do everything I want. You have to take a break sometimes and I tend to want too many things at the same time.

There will be challenges but I finally feel like I‘ve created a solid foundation I can build upon. Therefore I will continue to strive and be disciplined.

 

[Dave A]

There will be challenges but I finally feel like I‘ve created a solid foundation I can build upon. Therefore I will continue to strive and be disciplined.

This is the most important thing, believe in yourself and push yourself where appropriate, but having the right routines and mindset is an important foundation to build on.

Congrats on the promotion, when I was first promoted into a management position I went through similar for a while, though it was a good while ago now, I still remember the issues I had well.

I don't know if you have been promoted to a management position, but two things I had to learn but helped massively was learning to delegate without feeling guilty about it, that took some time. And also overcoming a bit of imposter syndrome where it's all new and I felt like I'd fluked my way into something I might not be able to handle. Which was not the case, and it won't be with you either, you'll have gotten it on merit (unless there was nepotism or bribery involved ).

I've spent over a decade in management since and now manage a whole department, and over that time situations I found really difficult once, I feel quite calm tackling now. There are situations that are never nice, disciplinaries and letting people go, but as long as I'm always aiming to be fair and feel the outcomes are deserved I'm very much at ease with them these days, though they'll never become nice situations to deal with.

But with any new job, especially one that requires new skills and experience you don't yet have, there can be issues that connect to confidence which will naturally improve and be overcome with time as you gain the experience you need. Hopefully your in a workplace where you can get support and assistance when needed, it also helped me to have someone more experienced in a similar role I could reach out to when I needed advice on certain situations and also having a manager above me who was supportive.

You're own mental and physical health is no less important after a promotion than it was before a promotion. It sounds like you're on the right track and looking after yourself. Always make time for yourself, take breaks from your normal routine and work, and have moments to slow down and let go of stress as best you can.