If you’re a first time parent, 2024 was the year you met your baby, and the version of yourself you never thought existed. If you’ve been preparing for the coming of your second or third child, this was the year that constantly called you to step up your game as a parent. If you’ve recently made a decision that will affect your career, yourself, or your family, this was the year that saw your braver self. However this year looked like for you, congratulations! You’ve made it here, and it’s enough reason to celebrate.
In the grander scale of things, we Filipinos witnessed the highs and lows in our nation that significantly made an impact in the way we think and act. As we prepare for the new year, let’s look back in gratitude and reflection as we made these informed decisions and empowered choices in 2024:
It’s not every Olympic year that the Philippines gets to bask in the glory of a gold medal. Yet 2024 gifted us with not just one, but two gold medals from no less than Carlos Yulo, a Tondo, Manila native, who bagged them from two gymnastic events: Men’s Floor Exercise and Vault. His win was definitely all over social media as we were astounded by a win outside our usual turfs of basketball, boxing, and beauty pageants.
His win was a win for every young dreamer who started small. It was a call for educators in school and mentors from all walks of life to honor his win not only through celebratory posts, but more importantly through knowing how to spot and nurture similar dreams of making it big.
Distance to concert venues and ticket prices used to discourage us from attending the concert of our dreams, but not anymore. With the MOA Arena and Philippine Arena being so close to us, seeing ourselves in concerts of local and international artists became a way to relieve ourselves from the jade of everyday routine.
In 2024 alone, Coldplay and Olivia Rodrigo made their way to the Philippine concert grounds to share their love for music. Ticket prices and long online queues notwithstanding, we found our way to seeing and singing with our music and life icons. Take a look back on these moms’ accounts on finding the connection they need through the Coldplay Music of the Spheres World Tour in Manila, and these ladies’ narratives on not missing Olivia Rodrigo’s first Philippine concert.
Despite the highs of the year, we also saw ourselves struggling with the impact of inflation. Heads of households share how a ₱1000 grocery budget could only cart a few items, and how a ₱64/day for three meals is not only impossible, but also a challenge to every working Filipino, physical and mental health-wise.
Yet coping with inflation is a survival skill that every Pinoy must have sharpened this year. To be able to make ends meet requires resourcefulness and creativity, two things we are never short of. But this does not mean we don’t need the direction of strong and empathetic leaders anymore. We need them now, more than ever – not only to survive, but to thrive.
Do you remember the time when the duck hairclips made it as a fashion statement of little girls and young adults alike? Well, it’s not the only trend that made rounds in social media feeds, schools, offices, and malls. By now, everyone must have seen at least one Labubu in the flesh, or at have least browsed what they are and where they came from. Through quite pricey, Labubus and other charms adorn bags and homes’ display cabinets not only for the sake of having or displaying them.
You’ll be surprised to know some Pinoy buyers and collectors do it for healing.
The reality – in whatever year we’re in – is that our kids are watching us. This year may have witnessed some of our missteps and oversights as adults, and we can’t do anything to erase or undo them anymore. The important thing here is we take accountability for our actions, because whether we like it or not, the way we respond to our actions will shape how our kids will respond to theirs. It’s true that it’s human to commit mistakes, but to make this as an excuse for not being the bigger person is a disservice to the future generation we are raising.
Again, however this year looked like for you, tap yourself on the back for pushing through and standing up. 2025 is in a few hours. Cheers to 2024 and to a new year of better, informed, and empowered choices!