The world is a mess, and everyone is just trying to survive. That seemed to be 2025’s theme, but it didn’t start off that way.
Logging back into this blog, I see 4 draft posts for 2024 that I never finished. They need photos and refinement. Maybe that’ll happen this year, maybe not… Despite that, going into 2025 was good. I did the usual Facebook post, almost like a written vision board.
Some of these things, I actually achieved! We had an amazing Girl Scout trip to Savannah, Georgia over Spring Break, and then my family continued down to Florida. I spent time looking at the sky, watching the birds, taking photos, researching history, and attempting home renovation projects.
There were a lot of obstacles though. Inflation is absolutely breaking the budget. Even with 2 adult children in the house working (one full-time, one part-time), the cost to survive is astounding. Healthcare is expensive, and my body is failing me. I would have never imagined at 41 that I would be given a permanent handicapped plaque for the car because I have limited options for what I can do to try and make my feet less crappy, and none of the options are a guarantee for this chronic problem. Not being able to walk or stand for a decent period of time limits my ability to work full-time, and even do some of the requirements my retail job demands of me.
The struggles persist in 2026. I didn’t do a Facebook post, but I had created a vision board; then I thought to myself, why? Unless someone drops me a few $100K, nothing is going to magically change this year. We will still continue to pay down debt and keep a status quo, because there is no room for saving, still continue to work on the house with stuff we already have, still rack up medical debt to try and keep ourselves upright, and still try to have some sense of “normal life” by trying to get out of the house and find free or cheap things to do.
It may sound negative, or hopeless, or like giving up, but honestly, it’s the reality right now. All we can do is take the year one day at a time as we navigate insurances, medical issues, house fails, work schedules, meal planning, bills, and everything else we call living life.
So to everyone out there struggling but still moving forward, even if it’s a snail’s pace, you are not alone!