It has been a long time since I wrote a reflection blog post, but 2025 has been too eventful to not pause and look back.
The year began normally, with a predictable routine. Work was steady, life felt manageable, and there was no indication of what lay ahead. As the months passed, however, the rhythm of the year changed. Frequent visits to my hometown became necessary due to my mother-in-law’s health concerns. What started as concern soon turned into ongoing medical discussions and a constant emotional undercurrent of uncertainty. By the final month of the year, she had to be put on dialysis leading to a permanent shift in our lives.
This is now a lifelong reality. We live in different cities, which means navigating travel, logistics, emotional bandwidth, and shared responsibilities. Expecting her to uproot her life, her comfort, and her familiar surroundings is not an easy decision to ask of her. There is no perfect solution to this life circumstance but only acceptance, empathy, and the willingness to take things one step at a time.
Running parallel to these personal challenges was a year of intense professional momentum.
2025 turned out to be my most successful year as a career counsellor. It was a year of early admits, strong outcomes, scholarships, and results that reaffirmed why I do what I do. From guiding students through clarity-building conversations to strategy, applications, and decision-making, this year reinforced my belief that structured planning and honest guidance can truly change trajectories. Watching students receive admits and convert offers to the universities they once believed were out of reach was deeply fulfilling. Each admit felt personal, built on the trust my students and their parents placed in me. Alongside this professional momentum, there was also a quiet personal milestone. In December 2025, I booked my first car. From being a stay-at-home mother for over twelve years to restarting my career at the age of forty, and now five years into that journey it felt less like a purchase and more like a marker of stability and progress. It was a reminder that rebuilding, when done with patience and intent, eventually finds its way forward.
Being conferred the Karmaveer Chakra Award was a defining moment. It was not just recognition of outcomes, but of intent. The award felt like an affirmation that purpose-driven work, when done with integrity, always finds its moment.
This year also brought a new dimension to my work. I began conducting online sessions for women’s communities where I shared my own journey, not as advice, but as lived experience. Speaking about restarting my career, navigating self-doubt, and rebuilding with intent, I saw how stories can become anchors for confidence. It reminded me that sometimes, simply being visible in your truth gives others the courage to begin.
Attending the “REX Awards—the REXperience ” shifted my perspective in a way I did not fully realise at the time. Listening to individuals from vastly different walks of life; some living with lifelong physical challenges, others shaped by social, financial, or systemic adversity yet creating meaningful impact with limited access to resources or networks, was deeply grounding. Their stories were not about sympathy, but about resilience, adaptability, and purpose.
Soon after this experience, my mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital, and within weeks, we were navigating the reality of dialysis. Strangely, what could have felt overwhelming instead felt manageable. Not because it was easy, but because I was seeing it through a different lens. I realised how blessed we were to have family support, to be present for one another without keeping score, and to not be constrained by finances while making medical decisions. Above all, I witnessed my mother-in-law’s quiet courage, her acceptance, and her strength in the face of a life-altering change.
Had this happened before the REXperience, I know I would have responded differently. I might have slipped into self-pity, questioned timing, or asked why now?—when my career was finally gaining momentum and things seemed to be falling into place. Instead, the experience reminded me that life does not pause its challenges for our convenience, and growth does not exempt us from hardship.
What the REXperience gave me was perspective the ability to hold gratitude alongside difficulty. To acknowledge that while this journey is hard and ongoing, it is also one we are equipped to navigate, together.
This year also marked an important personal milestone – my daughter appearing for her Grade 10 board examinations. Watching her journey has been deeply humbling. From being an average student in her early schooling years to scoring over 94.5%, entirely through self-study, without tuition and with minimal academic involvement from my side, her growth has been a quiet reminder of what consistency and self-belief can achieve.
2025 was a year of contrasts ; worry and celebration, exhaustion and pride, uncertainty and gratitude. It reminded me that life rarely moves in straight lines, but when faced with honesty and intention, it always teaches. I end this year more grounded, more grateful, and deeply aware that even amidst challenges, there is always purpose to be found.
Superb ??