2025 was a particularly notable year for me. I had epiphanies in the middle of the night, while my brain felt stuck in the morning. However, moving past that taught me a great deal. I finally sat down to reflect on all the important life lessons I learnt in 2025. Some seem trivial, some feel too obvious for me to learn at this age, but all of them have been life-changing in good ways. Here’s what I realised in 2025: these lessons might help you as you enter 2026.

1. Chhole kulche are better than chhole bhature

I said what I said, and this is the hill I’m dying on. I don’t even remember the last time I had chhole bhature, but what I do remember is how I felt every time after eating them. They made me feel extremely sluggish, heavy, and like I had eaten a brick. But chhole kulche don’t turn you into a nauseated sloth. They are light, satisfying, and you can actually function afterwards. Revolutionary. Sometimes, the greatest wisdom comes from knowing which carbs work for your body.

2. Mean people’s greatest tragedy is that they were born that way

I used to think I needed to have a comeback when somebody was mean to me or show them their place. But 2025 changed it for me. I realised their meanness isn’t a weapon they’ve chosen, it’s a prison they were born into. Imagine having to make someone feel small to feel good. God, that’s pathetic enough! They’re not winning; they’re just…stuck being themselves, forever. This has really turned out to be one of the most important life lessons in 2025.

3. ‘You behave like you’re 80’ isn’t an insult

Nor is it a compliment. It’s just people’s perspective of me, and that’s okay. All my life, I have had to hear this in one way or another: “You’re so boring, you never go out.” For the longest time, I got offended. Then, to feel better, I turned it into a flex. “I’m just an old soul,” I’d say with a laugh, trying to rebrand my preferences as quirky and endearing rather than, you know, terminally boring. But this year, I realised that it doesn’t matter. Their perception of me has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of my life. It’s just how I live; it doesn’t really have to be a defining feature.

4. Wearing matching socks is for people without real problems

I used to think mismatched socks were a sign of chaos, of someone who couldn’t get their life together. This year, I realised people who spend time matching socks are people with far too much mental bandwidth to spare. I’ve got deadlines, jhaadu pocha, and a meal plan to figure out. I simply cannot allocate brain space to sock coordination. Now I just buy the same black socks in bulk. Life-changing. Revolutionary. If this is what “having it together” looks like, I’ll take the chaos, thanks.

5. Food only tastes good when you aren’t cooking

I started cooking my own food this year, and the truth is, you can either cook well or eat well. If you’re cooking it, the urge to eat that food somehow dies. You chop, cry over onions, and wash a mountain of utensils, but by the time the food is finally ready, appetite has left the table. Meanwhile, someone else eats the same dal and goes, “Wow, so tasty!” So yes, I’ve realised the real luxury is not fancy restaurants; it’s having someone else cook while you simply exist like a pampered child.

6. I’m not a girl boss

The hustle culture tried to convince me that I should be waking up at 5 AM to “attack the day” while drinking butter coffee and listening to productivity podcasts. But 2025 was the year I accepted: I don’t want to grind and optimise every moment. I don’t want my life to be a never-ending performance of ambition. That doesn’t mean I’m ambitionless. I want to work hard and be amazing at my job, but I don’t want to sacrifice my existence to make that happen. Luxury is not my dream; I want a career that pays my bills without consuming my entire identity. The phrase “rise and grind” makes me want to lie down and nap.

7. My work can’t be my identity

I realised this year that my work is just work, like cooking or doing laundry. It’s something I do, not who I am. If the only compliment someone can give me is “you’re good at your job,” I’m genuinely going to cry in a corner. If the most interesting thing about me is something I get paid for, then I’ve failed at the actual business of living. I want to be remembered for how I made people feel, for the ridiculous jokes I told, for being kind, not for how efficiently I responded to emails. There has to be more to me than my job title, and this year, I finally started believing that.

8. The people who “don’t do drama” always cause the most drama

Every single person I’ve met who proudly announces “I don’t do drama” has been the source of the most chaotic, exhausting situations in my life. If someone has to tell you they’re drama-free, they’re not. It’s like people who constantly say they’re “brutally honest”, but they’re just brutal. Actually, calm people don’t need to announce it; you can tell by the peace they leave in their wake.

9. I’m God’s bravest soldier

One fine day, I woke with rashes and itching all over my face and lips. The doctor told me I have a sun allergy. Yeah, imagine that, living with sun allergy in a place where it’s summer 10 months of the year. And the cherry on the cake is, I can only use a medicated sunscreen that leaves a bhayanak white cast because nothing else works. So, when I finally entered my age of looking good, I now look like Cameron from that episode of Modern Family. Thank you, God, for trusting me with your unnecessary battles.

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