It’s the new year, and this is the best time to reflect on the past year especially my personal takeaways for the year that was. It’s honestly weird writing about this since I haven’t blogged for so long.

I used to blog regularly, but other media got in the way. There are YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, and other applications that I cannot keep up with. It’s harder to put thoughts into words and social media users are more visual these days.

But I’d like to return to where I started in these selections of media platforms. Blogging gives space for words that are hard to express verbally. Thoughts expressed in words are perpetually imprinted. So, I will start this year’s blog with my 2024 personal takeaways.

Embrace Every Stage of Your Life.

I’ve always believed my life is divided into stages. And I embrace every stage of it. I didn’t plan these stages, though. They come and I embrace them fully as they do.

I embraced family life when I got married. There was no turning back to law school or career because I wanted to be a wife and a mother. I took motherhood as my vocation when we were blessed with our sons. My whole energy was on them and the family life we were building. I was all over them and their daily activities. Backing off gradually came naturally as I began to understand their need for gradual independence. There was a time when volunteerism became a natural and normal part of my daily activities. That made it easier to wean myself off my boys.

Now that the boys are both in High School and one is going to University next school year, I have even made myself more scarce from their school. Save from their sports tournaments and UN Days, I am hardly seen at their school. I am also over the stage of volunteerism whether at my sons’ school or any social group.

I have been spending more ME time productively as practicing independence is now good for the boys.

No Mom Guilt

This is a very important personal takeaway for me. As a stay-at-home mom, my life revolved around my husband and, most especially, my sons. Recognizing their growth, the Mom Guilt has ceased. I don’t feel guilty about not spending enough time with them and for them. They need space. Sometimes, as teens as they are, I feel they cringe when I talk more than they think I should talk and stay more than they think I should stay. They are teens and they are boys.

I just hope I will be able to see clearly as we navigate a new chapter of their growing up years so I won’t be wrapped up with mom guilt when things don’t go ideally. But, I trust my boys. I trust the foundation of our family dynamics.

Because I don’t allow myself to wallow in mom guilt, I got to spend some time away from them. We’ve started developing a farm in the Philippines and I’ve been away for two or three weeks on those trips. I learned how to do internet parenting.

Small Inner Circle

I have an intentionally small inner circle here in Jakarta. Age and experience taught me to protect my peace. I am unabashedly selective.

And I am grateful for this mindset. It has taken some roughening up along the way to let go what I cannot comprehend. Let go and let live.

It’s liberating to be comfortable in small groups and not pressuring myself to be present anytime anywhere.

Loving What I do But knowing My Limitations

Those following me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are aware that I am ABS-CBN’s Correspondent for Jakarta. I started with Filipino community news for TFC News. Then, ABS-CBN wants to concentrate on the big news that is TV Patrol-material news. That means big news. The Embassy and ASEAN events were good materials for TFC News and Jakarta is an ideal place for a correspondent like me. The Philippines is celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Philippine-Indonesia bilateral relations so there were activities lined up that I was able to report on TFC News. Jakarta is the headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat so I got to familiarize myself well at the ASEAN especially during the chairmanship of Indonesia. But nothing beats the adrenaline rush brought about by the Alice Guo and the Mary Jane Veloso cases. Pope Francis was also here in Jakarta for his apostolic journey and all these three events were TV Patrol news. The Alice Guo and Mary Jane Veloso cases were top stories.

Those stories were daunting tasks but I loved every minute of it. I welcomed every news and every opportunity but I also knew my limitations. So, after every story, I settle back into my quiet life. Until the next story comes…

Self-Care

Every reading about how to be happy always emphasizes self-care.

My husband is my biggest influence on this. He has successfully rubbed off his fitness commitment to me. So, I started going to the gym with him. It used to be just him and our sons. The boys are big on fitness. They are athletes, after all. But their Dad has a strong influence on them when it comes to looking at fitness as a lifestyle. My husband got us a family account with Anytime Fitness. It conveniently operates 24 hours. I got on board and diligently went with my husband around August (2024). Though struggling, I am liking and loving it. It also gives us a good couple time aiming for couple fitness in our middle age.

I am moving it up to another level this year. I am challenging myself for results to manifest more in my physique.

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These are the 5 most important takeaways I got from 2025. I realized we need to put our reflections into words so when the time comes to check out what our thoughts were, we will have them on easy access having perpetually imprinted them here.

What’s yours?

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