#BN2025Epilogues: Despite Early-Year Uncertainty, Akpevwe Otobo-Ekakitie Realised She’s More Than Her Mistakes in 2025

Reflecting on the past year, the first thing that comes to mind is this quote from Charles Dickens‘s A Tale of Two Cities. The quote says: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of  foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it  was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” 

This quote precisely summarises my 2025.  

2025 was a year of paradoxes for me. It was the year I grew, but I still stayed stuck in old patterns and behaviours. All these may sound like I had a bad 2025, but that’s far from it; it was an okay year. A year I had so much to be grateful for. It was the year I hit another milestone age. A year when my loved ones and I had only God to be thankful for surviving all the health scares we saw. It was the year I knew God was mindful of me by his provision.

It was the year I finally took the time to write certification exams again after motherhood and a previous failure. This exam showed me that nothing beats excellent preparation together with God. Thankfully, I passed. This was the year I took my plans to transition my career seriously and started taking courses. Even with the clarity I had gained, I still doubted myself as I began my transition.

The year also brought some frustrations. On my birthday in March, I began to evaluate my life and trust me, I am my own worst critic. I felt like a failure, and the year was just starting. I battled with this for such a long time. As a deeply introspective person, I kept asking God questions and also let the Holy Spirit point out my flaws. The answers and insights were quite amusing.

You know what they say about you being true to yourself. Let’s say this is the year I started being true to myself. 2025 was the year I learnt about stewardship. I have been blessed with so much. How am I stewarding them? If I don’t use them well, I only have myself to blame for how the year turns out. I also reconnected with my hobbies, reading and watching sports. I read more books and even finished the New Testament of the Bible this year. I also reconnected with my love for football.

It was the year I learnt about convictions. We live in a world with so much noise. It is so easy for one to lose oneself and their belief systems in the noise. This was the year I learnt that even with the noise, I must hold on strongly to what I believe and what I stand for. I should also be shameless in standing for what I believe is right and true. No shrinking violet behaviour. 2025 was the year I saw the importance of excellence as a trait, not just personally but collectively.

2025 showed me the power of the mind. A negative or an indifferent mindset about life does not cut. I saw the power of believing bigger and having a positive mindset in 2025. The system might be tough, but it was never rigged against me. My mind was what was rigged against me. In believing positively, I saw results that shocked me.

2025 was the year the word “intentional” kept ringing around me. Intentional and consistency became a big part of my 2025. I had to learn that without these two things, even the best-laid plans become just plans and not results. This was the year I realised that a life without intentionality would not amount to much, even with the best vision boards and goal planners.

This year stretched me, but I am grateful for the stretching. The stretch showed me I am made of stronger stock than I think. I had a lot of lessons in the year. With each mistake from 2025  came a lesson. However, I learnt that I am more than my mistakes because God is merciful and his plans for me are always good. 

I am ready to take these lessons and make 2026 a wonderful year.