Whelmed, My 2025 Retrospective

Since there’s no such thing as the right amount of whelmed, it’s either overwhelmed or underwhelmed. I’ll start here:

I am whelmed by my journey this year.

Alhamdulillah.

I’m not where I want to be.
I’m also not where I used to be.
That gap matters.

The "messy middle" is often the hardest part to write about because it lacks the excitement of a new beginning or the triumph of a finish line. But reflecting on my journey so far this year, despite the grind, there are a lot of things I am really grateful for.

Looking Back, Honestly

2025 stretched me in quiet ways. When I reflect on this year, gratitude comes up again and again.

I’m grateful for my family.
I’m grateful for friends who checked in, pushed me, and stayed.
I’m grateful for colleagues and communities who shared knowledge, opportunities, and perspective.

This post is less about achievements and more about appreciation. A sincere thank you to everyone who was part of my 2025 in big or small ways. None of it went unnoticed, and none of it is taken for granted.

Career

Career-wise, there’s still a long road ahead. That part is clear. If you’ve been following me, you know I haven't been putting out much content lately. I’ve been quieter than usual with content, and that wasn’t by accident.

This year demanded focus.

I shifted a lot of energy toward building depth instead of visibility. That meant hands-on labs, failed deployments, rereading documentation, and preparing seriously for two major milestones:

• AWS Solutions Architect – Associate
• Google Cloud Engineer - Associate

Both are scheduled for January/February, and they’ve taken priority. Less posting. More studying. More foundations.

What’s Next

Content isn’t going away. By 2026, I plan to share more intentional cloud and security content. Fewer recycled explanations. More real lessons from things that broke, scaled, failed, and finally worked. The kind of content that helps someone who’s actually building, not just browsing. I promise to drop interesting, fresh cloud computing content. Once these certifications are in the bag, I'll be back to share not just the theory, but the practical, hands-on labs and architectural patterns I've been obsessing over.

Ending the Year Where I Am

This year ended with clarity.

Clarity about where I’m headed.
Clarity about who’s been supportive.
Clarity about what still needs work.

Until then, I’m keeping my head down and staying whelmed.

Thank you for being part of the journey.