Hiya!

It’s 2026 now and I gotta say, 2025 felt… anticlimactic. I couldn’t necessarily say it was a bad year. Nor could I say it was a good year. It was one of the most years I’ve ever experienced. Maybe it just felt that way as I am getting older. I’m definitely not a spring chicken anymore as I’ve been walking on this planet for around 3 decades now.

I do have to celebrate some of the wins I had in 2025, though. Around this time last year, I did precisely something just like this and some of them actually came through! I finally have myself a PlayStation 5 of my own! Right now, I’m in the middle of playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Well, probably not the middle and more like near the beginning since I just started playing a week ago. I’ve also tried investing some money. The problem is I tried investing in BitCoin at the wrong time. So, my “investment” is now a “divestment.” Yes, “divestment” is indeed a word. I’m just not using it in the right way… but you get the idea.

Finally, I also started writing a novel! It’s a kind-of, sort-of, not-so fictional story about people working in a call center and what happens to the people who do. I named it Call Center, obviously. The first few chapters have already been published on WattPad. I say it’s a not-so fictional story because a lot of the characters and events are based on people I know. I’m still in somewhere in the middle of it all but I’ve got everything mapped out in my head. Hopefully, I can put all those ideas into writing a halfway decent story.

Enough about last year’s hopes and dreams! Let’s go look at my own personal hopes and dreams for 2026!

#1 World Peace

Welp, it looks like, even as early as now, this is going to be impossible to achieve. Still, this list is about “hopes and dreams,” right? Well, a girl can hope and dream, can’t she? I do know something extraordinary would have to happen for this to be achieved. However, it’s more than likely things will just stay the same or, worse, things even get lousier! Odds are it’s going to be the latter. *Sigh.* I kind of wish I was a kid again and truly believed something like world peace could happen.

The problem is I’ve gotten older and definitely more cynical. World peace not only seems impossible now, but it also seems like we’re going on the opposite of the idea. Still, there is a part of me that hopes against hope and we actually get world peace. It’s probably not going to happen in my lifetime but, if it happens in the future, well, that would be because I really hoped and wished really hard for it. You’re welcome.

#2 Complete my novel

I’ve mentioned how I’ve started writing my novel, Call Center, and how the first few chapters are up on WattPad. I’ve got to say, writing a novel is both difficult and rewarding at the same time! Even though I have everything all figured out in my head, putting those things into words which are easily readable is harder than I thought! There’s also the issue of being able to write a few paragraphs here and there because of other duties. You know, the annoying things like working on a job, daily life and even writing for this blog! Still, I took the big first step and actually started writing! That’s gotta account for something, yes? That’s half of the challenge, correct?

Here’s the thing. While I do a lot of writing here, I am most definitely not a trained novelist. I haven’t even watched the video above on how to write a novel! I just started writing and that was it! Now, I don’t expect Call Center to be extremely good. I’m not even sure if it’s going to be good at all! It would be fantastic if it was but I’m not expecting it to be. I just want to start writing a novel to get a bunch of experience on writing a novel! My goal pretty much for Call Center is to tell a complete story. Something with a cohesive beginning, middle and end. So, for this year, I do hope to finish Call Center on Wattpad and then move on to start writing another one.

Speaking of which…

#3 Start writing a second novel!

Yeah, this is a weird hope and dream, especially since I haven’t even finished my first novel! However, there is one thing I realized while writing Call Center: writing is fun! It totally different from something like this blog. Writing up a story, complete with characters, their motivations, their dialog and the like feels great to me! It also turns out I really love writing dialog and conversations between people and noting down the little bits and pieces that seem unimportant but may become significant later on. Basically, with Call Center, I’m planning to have a lot of little Chekhov’s Guns littered throughout.

Of course, all my plans can go awry but I do hope I do remember all of those little Chekhov’s guns because one of them is a plan for a sequel! Call me arrogant but, even though I’m still in the middle of writing the first few chapters of my current novel, I already am starting to map out future stories! Technically, what I have in mind isn’t a true sequel but is kind of set in the same “universe” as Call Center. Yep, I am arrogant, thinking I can develop a “cinematic universe” already! Still, I do like my current idea for the sequel even though the story isn’t fully formed yet. The concept is there and the setup is there. The ending? Not quite yet. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out what to do by the time I finish Call Center.

#4 Obtain some real estate

Okay, the first one on this list is utterly impossible. Numbers 2 and 3 are more than doable. So, it’s time to hope and dream for something improbable but not impossible. For me, that would be purchasing a property. In general, it would seem impossible for me to do that as I’m only a humble office worker and prices for something like a condo unit in the Philippines is really exorbitant.

However, I do have some things I have going for me. For one, I have been saving up money ever since I started working. In fact, I have a good bit saved up. Not enough to buy a condo but enough to possibly make a downpayment for one. I also have really good credit as I pay off my credit cards on time and the like. The last point is probably the biggest one and that would be a fairly weak demand paired with an overabundance of supply. There are just too many real estate developments being built right now and there is a possibility prices may go down. Don’t quote me on that as I’m not a financial guru. See my bungled BitCoin “investment”. Even so, the chance is there for prices to go down just a little bit and make things more affordable for little old me!

The main reason why I would want to buy a property would be to, like with last year, have some passive income. I would love to rent out the property to gain some extra cash monthly. That doesn’t mean I’m going to rush out and buy a condo by going into debt, however. If it’s something I can afford, even with a housing loan, I might do so. I would still have to weigh the pros and cons and think a little bit to see if it’s worth going into debt to try to get out of debt as well. I’m not in a rush to do this but I’m going to keep my eye on this hope and dream.

#5 Get back in the dating pool

I hate to sound like a girly-girl who would fail the Bechdel Test if I was in a movie but I have to say it: I really have to find myself a guy to date. It’s not like I’m actively looking for one right now or I’m going to in 2026! However, I kind of long for the days when I had an active love life. I’ve had some boyfriends before. Some serious and some not-so serious. I’ve had terrible times with boyfriends and I’ve had good times with boyfriends. I also kind of miss saying I have a boyfriend in general.

It’s not like I have a yearning because my biological clock is ticking. I’m also not being pressured to finally get married or anything like that. I simply haven’t been in a relationship for some years now. There have been some “prospects” but they just never were my type. I also don’t get to see a lot of new people. That kind of happens when you’re like me who’s introverted and don’t have an active social life. Now, I’m not sure if I’m looking for true love or anything like that. I’m not even sure if I want to be in a serious relationship or just want to feel a little something something in 2026. I just miss having a boyfriend. Sure, it sounds incredibly selfish as it sounds like I don’t really care about the guy’s feelings. I’m just being honest about what I want to have this new year.

Byee!

What are your hopes and dreams for 2026? Let me know in the comments section below!