Choosing What Matters
A year of becoming, faith over vanity, and learning to anchor my life in what truly counts
Christmas morning came with a certain kind of gloominess for me. I was as blue as blue could be. While my sister was in the kitchen frying chicken and bustling around, I sat in my room doomscrolling—wrapped in disappointment, sadness, and a heaviness I couldn’t quite name.
A few minutes later, I walked into the kitchen to ask if she had Hypo (bleach). The way she rolled her eyes at me, startled, will forever make me smile.
“Desola? Sad? Hypo? What’s going on?”
I could tell she was petrified.
God forbid, I will not think of drinking Hypo in Jesus name. lol.
What a way to start a letter.
If I had to describe 2025 in one phrase, I would call it the year that stretched me the most. It brought my strengths and weaknesses into sharp focus. It felt like jumping off a cliff, hoping to land on solid ground, only to fall into a shallow, muddy pool. There were some beautiful highs and some very uncomfortable lows. Yet even in the not-so-good moments, God remained my anchor.
Would it be too much to say that my biggest highlight this year was getting closer to God—not as a distant, mighty, terrible figure, but as a Father who truly cares for me? Being active again in my local church restored something I didn’t even realize I had lost: a sense of purpose, community, friendship, and quiet excitement.
Early in the year, I completed my Product Management course, with a capstone project focused on a waste management and recycling app. Somewhere in between deadlines and life, I found myself asking a recurring question: How do I merge my career in finance, my love for sustainable living, and the constant nudge to create beauty through storytelling and art?
Towards the end of the year, I was transferred to another location after spending ten months in what I fondly call my cocoon. My role shifted—suddenly, I became a manager of people, processes, and assets. That transition exposed my weaknesses in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I thought I had good character until I stepped into a position where empathy was tested daily, and the fear of being taken advantage of loomed large.
This was also the year I joined the stewardship team in my local church. I had every excuse not to—time, energy, career growth—but I realized something important: as I advance in my career, life will not magically slow down. The only real option is to make room for the things that matter.
Because truly, there is a lot to juggle—career, ministry, purpose, and the many elements that make up your ikigai. There will be days when you simply cannot balance everything the way society expects you to. And on those days, you’ll be forced to ask yourself a hard question:
What truly matters most?
For some, the answer will be the audacity of faith in God.
For others, it might be pursuing another degree.
Some will choose love and family, even at the expense of other pursuits.
And others will choose their sanity.
As we move into 2026 (spoiler alert: I’m already here), we’ll need to choose what matters most—and stop chasing vanity.
My 2026 will be spent learning to walk closely with God, making audacious moves, curating meaningful work under Hello Sun, and building products that solve real, global problems.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33
Joyeux Noël en retard et bonne année.
May the coming year be gentle, intentional, and grounded in what truly counts.
With love,
Hello Sun