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Thank you all for a wonderful year. It's time for another, and let's tackle it fully head on. 100%. Love you all! Full message below... #HeresTo2026
THE END OF THE YEAR - 2 0 2 5
Thank you, 2025. For challenging me to refine my weaknesses and for allowing me to truly see how I am evolving, growing, and shaping to be the best that I could ever be. Thank you for always reminding me who is there for me, right in front, at all times. Not only are those people there to comfort me, but they are also there to help guide me into the future and for many more years (and subsequent messages) to come. I hope with this message, I am able to satisfy not only the people who follow me, not only the One above all, not only the life surrounding me, but me, myself, and especially I…
Hello once again, everyone! Thank you for always sticking around this time of year to take a short break, sit and reflect on where you’ve gotten to, and read my silly words on a yearly basis. It’s almost become a sort of “Zach News Article” or an outlet that only comes around in that special time of year: you know, the “twilight zone” area between Christmas and New Year’s. Does anything ever happen on those days, or are we just traveling through a wormhole to get those days over with quicker? It always seems that way. It creeps up on you faster than you think, and once the year is over, time comes crashing to a halt in January. It’s always strange how that feeling hits you. Losing track of time, the days that are not as meaningful as the others, sort of slipping into the grand hourglass of time. Each day is a little grain of sand that is gone before you know it. But at the end of the day (or year in this case), each day is as long as any other day, no matter how insignificant one day can be compared to the rest of them. Each day, thousands of things happen to millions and millions of people, but not every day something happens to you. Some days, you are simply along for the ride, or that is at least what you feel is happening. No matter what, each and every day grows you in some capacity. From the most inconspicuous of tiny details that occur in a day to the largest personal events and experiences on another, every day is a building block of the wall that you are building to define yourself. Not every brick will be as meaningful. A random Monday at work is not going to be as touching as a birthday weekend with friends and family, or a day of getting to watch your brother graduate college, or a day watching Pitbull or Flo Rida at a concert. Every brick is the same length, width, and height, but some bricks of yours just hold a little more weight and connections than others. But that is what makes each and every wall that we build special.
It’s funny how often I actually talk about bricks in these messages, so I think we need to shift focus here. A regular household plant (or one that you can find out in nature; I do not mind your preference) grows each and every day to some grand display of beauty. Not every day is as meaningful to the plant. There are days that will be objectively more special to the plant than others. There will be a specific day when it first sprouts out of the dirt. There will be a specific day when its first leaf starts to extend out. There will be a day when the first petal starts to spread outwards, revealing its true beauty to the world. But what isn’t shown in the three specific days I mentioned are the hundreds of days that the plant was simply doing what it does best. Growing up.
As I am gearing up for this adulthood more and more, it is so, so, SO imperative that I make sure the days that something grand happens do not simply overshadow the days where things feel stagnant. Each and every day gives you a new chance at the world to show friends, family, other relatives, coworkers, acquaintances, mentors, and everyone how you tackle life and how you let yourself shine in the field with all these other flowers around you. This is why now that I am getting older and more and more of the standard adult life is hitting me consistently, looking at each and every day with optimism and excitement to build myself up more than I already have so far has become much more important to me than it has before. Giving yourself an opportunity to say, “On this day, like all the other days I have experienced, I am going to tackle it and make it something awesome.” And even when the days go by that were not as epic and as special as some of the others, never let that sulking feeling take away from the fact that you made it through one more day, and one more, and one more. Every day has that potential to be that amazing day, that chance to take anything to heart, to learn, and to continue to shape yourself into being the best version of yourself possible. That is why for 2025, I have stomped away from this “brick wall” analogy to shift to a lovely small plant, growing and blooming into something beautiful. Each day the plant makes progress, and even on the days that are not as exciting as the others, they continue to grow. So, here we are for 2025, which I am coining in my yearly series, 2025 - The Year of Growth.
This year, in fact, while it did feel like one of those years that maybe was not as exciting as the others, or one of the years that held more challenges and repetition than some others, still had marvelous things to remember, reflect on, and enjoy that they happened. At the start of the year, I went to Pittsburgh to enjoy AGDQ (Awesome Games Done Quick), a speed-running event marathon, where I got to enjoy time with so many community members of one of my favorite games, Ori. It was such a treat to meet numerous people that I’ve collaborated with throughout the years. This year I continued to share great experiences with my girlfriend, Kelly, such as going to an elaborate art museum and a grand indoor water park. I had a grand opportunity to watch the most clutch Atlanta sports team, that of course being the Atlanta Drive Golf Club of the Tomorrow Golf League, win themselves the inaugural season of the TGL with my main man, Tom. I just cannot wait for them to run it back next year. I got to watch my brother carry a March Madness bracket into day 2 of perfection before going out around the 24th pick, which had everyone’s mind blown. I continued to attend so many Braves and Falcons games this year, which, well, have various degrees of enjoyment depending on their performances, but being able to go there and share lively times with many of my close friends (including a surprise appearance from longtime friends Brandon and Tristan) is something I never take for granted. On the topic of sports, we can at least mention how the real successful sports story for me was Georgia Tech having their most successful football season in over 10 years. At one point, we were ranked in the top 10, which had not happened in 50 years! That was insane to watch side-by-side every week; something I definitely will not forget quickly. I got to watch my brother graduate from Alabama this year and really got to watch him continue to grow up into being his own unique, amazing self. Maybe a little too much considering the fact that he now works at the same company I am at, so he gets to bug me all day, haha. I found it upon myself this year to grab back into the deep bag of hobbies and pick up golf once again, but this time a little more seriously! I went golfing a ton of times this year and managed to finally get myself a real handicap. It may be above 30, but it is the progress that counts! I enjoyed another fantastic 4th of July in the Bahamas, which involved many spontaneous adventures, such as seeing Pitbull one random evening. I watched a ton of great movies this year, whether or not they were actually good movies like Thunderbolts, Superman, or KPDH, or simply good experiences like the Minecraft Movie. At the very least, I enjoyed myself with friends and family either way. I saw wondrous sights in Phoenix this past Christmas, which involved many hot days in December of hiking and hitting the driving range. I got to enjoy the final season of Stranger Things with my family, and I finally got my brother wrangled into the show for its last hurrah! I had a ton of fun work outings with my team, which keeps growing and growing at this rate! I also ended this year heading to North Carolina for the first time with my Tom, his sister, and a friend, so that’s actually 3 states that I have checked off visiting this year! I also had tons of classic gaming experiences, such as enjoying Minecraft in a new light by playing football inside of it! Or playing and enjoying No Rest for the Wicked with my dad! Or building my entire friend group in Super Mega Baseball 4, where one or two of my friends were clearly carrying the rest of the team, haha. Or nearly 100%’ing Balatro, one of my personal favorites. But I think my overall favorite game of this past year goes to Blue Prince, which was some of the coolest puzzling I have seen in a long time. Finally, I enjoyed quality time with my family, both direct, and extended, from my new one year old cousin Baker, to my grandparents coming into town for more visits. I will always appreciate their time and company guiding me on my journey to the next stages of my life.
In the end, it is funny that while I mentioned this year felt a little more challenging than others to soak in and enjoy each and every day, I still go on and fill an entire paragraph with some of the of the great moments that made up this year. And honestly, looking through my phone’s photo album, there are so many more mini-adventures that I could mention! So, at the end of it all, take it to heart that each and every day will have something for you. Make it your goal to take in every moment and see it as an opportunity to push yourself to new heights. I like to think your life is a television show where every day is a new episode. If you had an audience watching your show, what would they be screaming at the television for you to do, right now, at this very moment? Will you do what they are thinking you should do? What should you do, and what will you do, to continue growing to be better for yourself and those around you? I hope you take it to heart and look to continue giving yourself new challenges and goals to reach each and every year. I normally thank a ton of people individually, but for this year, I will just make it clear that ANYONE reading this message knows that I care about you, I am excited for your new endeavors, and I thank you for reading this message. Get ready, and let’s tackle 2026 better than we even want to. I will be right here, growing at your side. Let’s bloom into this new year together! Thank you everyone, have a blessed new year, and let’s GO, 2026!
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