It has been too long since my last post so I think is time to put the excuses aside and jump right in. I’m restarting this blog with a retrospective post about 2025 as it comes to an end, with a promise to myself that I will not let years go by before my next post is published. Here it goes:
As we enter the last day of 2025, I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home after a wonderful vacation in Sweden with my son. Waiting for my delayed flight on New Year’s Eve is not exactly how I planned to close out 2025 but as they say: ” We plan, God laughs” (meaning God has a plan for you). Instead of getting frustrated by the delay, I’m using this time as an opportunity to practice one of my new goals (more on my goals later), and reflect on this year that is quickly coming to an end. Overall, 2025 was a good year. There were some lows, like my younger brother who has been missing since last Christmas (we remain hopeful that he’s ok and we will see him again), and the end of a relationship that in retrospect was highly toxic and detrimental to my mental health and overall well-being (that’s all I’ll share on this one as it is not worth any time or space on this blog).
However, there were many highs worth celebrating as well and with my new objective of looking at the glass half full versus half empty (one of my goals 😊), I choose to focus on the things worth celebrating:
- My son continues to be my pride and joy as he finished Middle School and began a new chapter in his life as a high school student (My little munchkin a high schooler already!)
- Our adventures continued with two amazing European vacations, Italy and Sweden. Each of these trips were full of unforgettable memories that we will relish forever. From seeing Pope Francis up close the day before he died while attending Easter Mass at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican (a dream come true), to visiting the IceHotel and seeing the Northern Lights in the arctic circle, our trips were full of amazing moments and I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to make these adventures come true
- I continue to develop and grow professionally, challenging myself to enhance my skills by stepping out of my comfort zone. I want to be a role model for my son, showing him that you’re never too old to learn something new or get better at something you already know
By focusing on celebrating the highs without dwelling on the lows I hope to start the New Year with a positive mindset. After much self-reflection and reading about manifesting, I believe our thoughts are very powerful and can shape our reality, particularly negative ones. As I recently read in “The Life Impossible” a novel by Matt Haig, “Negativity has more power than positivity. In math, when you multiply by a negative, the product is always negative.” This really resonated with me as I have been a glass half-empty person all my life and my thoughts tend to concentrate on the bad versus celebrating all the good I have in my life. This is why I think I’ve missed out on many happy moments and instead of enjoying life with a grateful heart, I’ve spent too much time and energy dwelling on the negative. Is time to turn things around and instead of multiplying negative thoughts, I intend to find the silver lining that will lead to a positive result.
Happy New Year and may 2026 bring you health, prosperity, happiness and more….
All the best,
Larissa
P.S. I’m including some pictures from our travels. Hope you find some inspiration for your next adventure!
The Single Mom Life 