Ask Lemmy

2025 was awful so... I would say I am happy and proud to still be alive.

I’ve created some absolutely amazing photography in ‘25 and will continue to make even more!

Stopped being an unemployed bum and got a solid union job that pays more than I ever really expected to make

It took two years but I finally achieved a 1000lb powerlifting total. It's not a huge number but I do feel proud of myself, and physically I have never felt better. Outgrew my wardrobe twice, and can't find jeans that fit but otherwise 10/10 would recommend lifting to anyone

Literal zero usage of Windows or any Microsoft software or hardware. Also 99% no Google.

Went vegan.

Started my masters.

Didn't kill myself that week when I was fired a day after getting into a lot of credit card debt to treat the newly found cancer in my cat.

Said cat is alive and well, which is already a few months more than what the first vet said he would have.

Stopped smoking.

Professionally, I achieved the highest level of licensure in my field and made more money this year than any year prior. Personally, I got back into therapy and started tightening down on my mental health. I also did some repair/maintenance projects on my car/house that I really didnt think id be able to handle.

I'm usually a bit excessively modest, but if I'm reflecting on it... I left my precious job in the US & pulled off a successful cross-continental move with little to no outside help (even though there was a lot of stuff involved). Had a ton of fun traveling during the past year too as a result of that. I guess that would be the thing I'm most proud of

I started my handyman business 2 years ago. This past year i've been at full employment with zero advertising. I think that's pretty good for a new business with no existing customer base.

Ironically, at the end of last year as things were slowing down a bit I ordered like 3000 new flyers and I only managed to distribute around 500 of them untill the phone started ringing again and that still continues.

Almost ten years ago I got into a fight with a cop and some ER nurses after a suicide attempt and spent the next 48 hours twitching with EPS on the floor of a state hospital psych ward and thought I could probably do a better job of that. This year I'm considered enough of an expert in the management of violent patients that they've got me teaching verbal deescalation and physical disengagement skills, teaching people how to use restraints correctly, and precepting new nurses.

I moved out from my dysfunctional family, which has helped me heal or come to terms with a lot of childhood trauma. I definitely feel I've grown a lot more, and become much more social and confident in myself.

I asked someone out for the first time, and while I was turned down, that was still a huge step for me.

Having a photo I took accepted into a public gallery exhibit for the first time.

I helped successfully form a union at my job. Things remain very difficult, but I am so gleefully proud.

Finally got off my butt and started volunteering at my local wildlife rehab clinic. It's been a tough year for me mentally, so having something regular where I'm surrounded by kind people doing something positive itself was great, and then getting to work with a ton of unique wildlife was the icing on the cake.

I even got to release a few squirrel patients at my house, and a beautiful young Screech Owl on my wife's birthday.

I've learned a bunch about all kinds of animals and found out about some animals I didn't even know we had in our state. I also attended a conference and got to meet people from other clinics across the country and see some of the special projects they're working on.

I owe it to the community here for pushing me to get more hands on with this, and I hope to continue to give back with some great stories, facts, and photos. It's been a truly amazing experience that I wish to continue.

I stepped up my nerd game to start trying to land an IT job of some kind. I learned computer networking to set up my own website on recycled hardware and began writing about it. I started developing on a game engine making modules and making art assets to maybe one day make a commercial product. I released like a dozen open source projects under open source licenses.

It all kind of culminated with Christmas. The kids in my life have been begging for multiplayer Minecraft server but Microsoft destroyed the he so hard with money grabbing we refused to pay for realms or make a bunch of Microsoft accounts or whatever.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work on creating a mineclonia server built on luanti/minetest engine, patching in all the Minecraft assets like textures, sounds, music that I legally own with python tools I built myself and released,

I really wanted an in game fullscreen map and nobody had ever figured out how to make one on luanti engine so I so spent a few weeks developing one from the ground up. I released the map mod two days ago and people quickly noticed saying I had changed the game forever, congratulating me on my technological achievement or whatever.

Its just a little frustrating because it feels like I'm somewhat competent at the nerd professions but I have no idea how to advertise my talents or if what I'm doing even translates to real Dev work. How Does creating universal map colorizer + generator for proceeduraly generated voxel worlds or designing a full model animation interpolation system for an engine from scratch or hosting public services on my own network built from scratch powered by solar turn into resume stuffs? That'd what I guess new years focus needs to be

Did my first successful hard drive recovery including chip swapover while soldering on a microscope. Also started saving for retirement the first time in my life. I'm 38.

Hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Held a job for more than 6 months because after 23 years in the workforce I finally found one where the pay is equal for the level of work I do, which is next to nothing on both fronts. ($20/hr)

So while I still can't afford groceries, at least I'm not busting my ass while being poor at the same time anymore. All I do at my job is sit in front of a computer, take screenshots and then upload them, so now I'm just poor.

After 5ish years of semi-regular practice, I don't completely suck at chess anymore. This year saw my most dramatic improvement since I started learning how to play in earnest.

Yesterday I hit a new personal best rating at chess puzzles: 2013 Elo. Pretty proud of that

I wrote a one man play! I am not a professional writer, even though i have tried, and not at all an actor, and the play touches some things in me, i get both angry and sad for real while playing -- 13.1 is the date, and i'm both super stoked and super anxious. but proud! a real achievement in my world.

I got my A+ and Network+ certs. So far they've been wastes of money lmao

One of the projects I worked on won several major awards from a major professional organization. Part of the reason it won those awards was because of my work.

Finally moving into my own apartment (away from my dad)

I started going to therapy which has done insane wonders for my anxiety and ability to make progress in life.

Didn't give in to my demons. So far so good...

I made more money in one month than I did in any one of the first three years I started in my field.

It finally feels like the work and dedication paid off.

Went back to school for electrical engineering. Took a hard class with a hard professor and got a B+ while working almost full-time. Now I know how computer memory works.

I finally quit my shitty job and will do a fresh start in '26 🥳 The job was really draining all my energy so this is a big win for my mental health

I got invited to a furry convention, but still had to pay my own way and only had a month to make up the money so I took all the extra hours I could just to be able to go and barely have food the whole 5 days.

But it was worth it. BLFC was awesome. 😃

I'm very proud of my partner getting a new job and starting her career in earnest. I'm super proud of myself for having been able to support that endeavor. This isn't something that I did last year obviously, this was a process over multiple years. I'm just very happy to see the results of my life decisions from the previous 5 years culminating in actual tangible outcomes this year. Not just for me, but for the people close to me as well. I have my path for the next 5 years visualized as well, and this type of stuff gives me the confidence to pursue things that i would have previously considered out of reach.

Wrote two erotic fiction short stories, both of which will be audio books soon!

I've got ADHD and my organisation skills have improved quite a lot.

I'm still a scatterbrain with 5 zillion unfinished projects, but at least I'm writing them down. Sometimes.

2025 has been a roller coaster. I'm a DJ, and played a festival for the first time and got booked for a gig on my favourite label - amazing, rewarding achievements for me!

I also got evicted, developed panic disorder and have had to navigate our healthcare and benefits system for my partner who has a disability and hasn't been able to advocate for himself.

I kind of feel like; we made it. And that's an achievement on its own.

Nothing yet. I’m only a few hours into this thing.

I got a lot better at guitar and even recorded a song.

It's been a goal of mine for a while to keep up with practicing and get good at fingerpicking. Just for myself, more of a therapy than anything. I did pretty good with it this year.

Got to Norwegian A2 level in about two months and some change. My small farm business had its first sales.

Finished the year with $3 in my bank account.

Thanks, Trump.

I failed at everything I set out to do and hoped for in 2025.

Happy New Year! I'll try again or die trying.

I got my highest semester GPA ever and started reading significantly more books

• New job
• big progress in my drawing (went digital)
• started climbing (a lot)
• started building community in the new city
• joined a hiking club
• paid off the last of my high interest debts

Pretty good later half of the year!

I'm looking forward to building more of a core social group, traveling a bit, and climbing outdoors.

Happy new years!