Re: 2025

Despite how corny or cliche they may be, I am generally a fan of New Years resolutions. I find I get caught up in the day-to-day business of life so often that I may forget about some of my goals altogether, especially ones that are lower on the list or are more lofty one-day visions. The yearly social media content of predictions and yearly awards, and a easy go-to water-cooler discussion topic on resolutions, along with the free time of the holiday break, presents a great opportunity to recalibrate to what you want to do with the next lap around the sun.

BUT

From the content I get, specifically a Tim Ferriss podcast comes to mind, they’ve been recommending to do a yearly review/recap/rewind thing before setting goals. The point is to take a look at what you did in the last year that you enjoyed and brought you life to help inform what you should actually do in the next year, not what I have been convinced to set my goals as by wherever I get my aspirations from. I wasn’t going to do it, proven by me writing this on January 8 with some goals to work towards already underway (which I should document in a post as well to help), but a blogger I like named Tynan did one that was great to read so I figured might as well.

So that is what this is, taking a look at some of the things that brought me life in the past year of life.

Marathon

Probably my biggest accomplishment this year was completing the Ottawa Marathon. My time was 4:04:52 on Strava (I think more like 4:01 bib time but I’m too lazy to check) which was a bit over my goal of under 4 hours, but in retrospect of knowing just how difficult it is, especially the 30K-40K hell hole, I’m proud of what I did.

I wasn’t as consistent throughout the weeks as I could have been with training but still made sure I hit my long runs up to 30k on Sundays. That makes me want to try again this May, which I intend to do and be more consistent with to improve my time.

After doing it I don’t think its actually that hard to run a marathon or even that impressive now that running culture has captured my generation, but it’s awesome that I could check something off the bucket list that requires some dedication and effort to achieve.

Being able to say ‘just a half?’ when someone tells me they’re training for a race has been pretty great for the ego too.

I also had a great lesson in being happy with my accomplishments when I decided not to run the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in the Spring. Followng the Ottawa Marathon, I needed a few weeks for my body to recover, which bled into Summer of spending weekends away where I scaled back my training so much so that I stopped. I knew if I wanted to do another marathon I wanted to be confident that I would have significant improvement over my Spring time, so when I realized that wouldn’t be the case I decided to back out. I think it was a good lesson in realizing stepping back to think about what I actually wanted out of a goal and deciding to focus on other areas of life when realizing it wasn’t going to be hit.

Japan Trip

Probably the highlight of the year was our 2 week trip to Japan. I had medium expectations going into it but was absolutely blown away by the place. The food, culture, shops, environment, sights, attention to detail and beauty were all on another level from anywhere else I’ve ever been. Even though we got to a lot in our short time, I already want to go back and go to all of the places we learned about but weren’t able to see.

I should do another post going deeper into it, but overall it is an incredible place that changed the way I think about a lot of things. For one, valuing order, minimalism and cleanliness more than ever.

Scuba Luke

I added a week on my own to that 2 week Japan trip to head down to the Phillippines for some diving. While I did not think as highly of the Phillippines as a country than I did Japan (other than the people who were very friendly and nice), largely because of the shock Japan gives compared to most of the world, it was a great trip and I got to check off a few things from the bucket list. It was still well worth it to take the oppurtunity to get my diving fix that I hope to get at least once every year.

One of those was taking a tour to see Whale Sharks. I’ve been fascinated with them for a long time due to their sheer size as the largest fish, mystical behaviour and gentle-giant nature. It was an amazing experience to see them in person, but it makes me long for a rare encounter diving, compared to the snorkelling and chasing required to keep up with them, which I imagine to be more serene. I chose a tour with Pete’s Dive Resort off Southern Leyte where they run ethical tours that work to disupt the fish as little as possible. One could argue being near them at all is disruptive, but a ecological tour where the way we find the fish is by retired fishermen in their canoes sticking their head in the water and yelling over when they see it is green thumb enough for me. Plus, those old fisherman could retire to this job spending half as much time for the same money as they were previously.

After that trip, I headed to Malapscua to dive with the Thresher sharks that come by for cleaning at the Kimud Shoal. Two 4AM wake ups to get to these dive sites were well worth it (I love a pre-sunrise adventure anyways) to see these majestic sharks and their massive tails. The diving offered after diving with these guys was pretty lackluster due to a tropical depression that recently stirred up the sediment, but that was alright as these awesome sharks filled my Pelagic needs and my camera’s storage more than enough.

DJ Scuba Luke

Fun times DJing this year. Nothing crazy but it’s something I want to do more. I like playing music I like, I like setting the vibe and seeing people have fun, people seem to like the music I play, and I love the attention and how cool it makes you feel.

Some for a night, Some for a season, Some for a lifetime

I realize more and more every day how much energy I get from spending time with people I love and people I bond with. I think last year I tried to do more of that and be more selective of who to spend time with which I think paid off. Getitng older it’s harder every year to make time for friends so I want to be sure I am making that time for the people I care about, but also forming new bonds even just for a night. I made sure I wasn’t afraid to meet new people even if I’ll barely remember their name.
I had a great year with my girlfriend. We did so many fun things together, but also were able to have fun quiet nights in just spending time. I feel closer to her than ever and that feels amazing.

I had many fun times and late nights with many friends and I am grateful for all of them.

This year I’d like to plan my time with friends more deliberately to do more fun things together, especially if I want to also be focused on my own work and development.

The Great White West

Spent some time skiing in Banff and exploring Vancouver. I’ve become a big fan of western canada over the last 2 years after rarely being there growing up. I don’t have a ton to get into on it so here’s my takeaway:

• Vancouver is pretty cool but quiet compared to Toronto. Being both on the mountains and on the ocean is a sick prospect.
• Calgary as a town is whatever but the food is surprisingly top-notch. To be fair, most of my time there was working near the airport.
• Banff skiing is epic (at least for someone from Ontario).

Banking on more time in the mountains and skiing in my future

Time with Family

Spending my first full year living as an adult on my own has required me to be more deliberate in seeing my family. Lots of good times at our cottage and spending more time with our cousins and their kids.

Work

Work required a lot of extra hours but I got my first promotion in my life which was something I wanted. I should be proud that I got it, but I’m being reminded that a title and more money doesn’t always mean more happiness. I think I did good work and tried to do my best as much as possible. I also love the people I work with so getting to do fun things with them last year was one of the best parts.

This exercise reminded me how much I should be thankful for over the last year. Looking forward to an even better year in 2026.

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Hoping to get back to posting here to keep a more regular journal.

Training for that marathon
Will Meditate
Back to medium carb/high protein diet
Semi regular in the gym
Working hard at work
Trying to find my ikigai
Identifying my misogi