Measuring a Year in Moments: 525,600 Minutes of Becoming
Measuring a Year in Moments: 525,600 Minutes of Becoming ✨
By Angel, Founder of AMC Rise and
Thrive
Hello beautiful soul 🤍
If you’re here, pause for just a breath.
Not a rushed one — a real one.
You are almost at the end of 2025, and that deserves
recognition.
So many people don’t pause long enough to acknowledge that
fact. We move from one obligation to the next, one calendar page to another,
barely noticing how much we’ve carried to get here. But today, right now,
you’re still standing. Still reading. Still open. And that matters more than we
often allow ourselves to acknowledge.
Before we talk about time, calendars, or the turning of
another year, I want you to arrive fully in this moment. Let your shoulders
soften. Let your breath deepen. Let your heart catch up to your body.
You made it here — through victories and disappointments,
through clarity and confusion, through moments of strength and moments where
strength felt far away. Whether this year stretched you gently or tested you
deeply, your presence here is proof of resilience.
And sometimes, simply being here is the quiet miracle we
forget to name.
When Time Stops Being a Number
As 2025 draws to a close, something simple yet startling
landed in my awareness:
there are 525,600 minutes in a year.
I didn’t know that off the top of my head. I heard it in a
song — the one I’ll share later — and, like I always do, I had to fact-check it
(you know, a quick Google search 😊). And sure enough, there it was. An exact
number for something that usually feels so slippery and undefined.
Time flies, we say.
But what does that really mean when you’re living inside it — when you’re
carrying the weight of days that felt endless and others that vanished too
quickly?
In my previous post, I talked about resolutions — the hopes we
pin to fresh beginnings. Now, I want to talk about reflections. Because
reflection asks something different of us. It asks for honesty. For courage.
For grace.
Maybe this year felt light.
Maybe it was the hardest one yet.
Did you find love — or lose it?
Did you begin to recognize yourself again — or feel more lost than ever?
Did you gain something you’d prayed for… or lose someone you can’t imagine
living without?
So much of life happens beyond our control. And whether we
like it or not, acceptance becomes part of the work — for better or worse.
Reflection doesn’t erase what happened; it helps us understand how it shaped
us.
As this year closes, the question isn’t what happened…
It’s how do you measure it?
Measuring a Year — With Grace or With Disdain
We measure time in numbers because numbers feel safe.
They’re clean. Objective. Contained. Something that never changes.
But life doesn’t live neatly inside numbers.
You can live through an entire year and feel like you never
caught your breath. Or you can live through one devastating moment that changes
you forever. So how do we measure something like that?
With grace… or with disdain?
I’ll be honest with you — it’s usually easier to see the bad.
Especially when you’re still in it. When you’re underwater, everything feels
heavier. Louder. Harder. It’s difficult to see the surface when you’re trying
not to drown.
I’m a realist by nature. I tend to see things as they are, not
as I wish they were. I see people as they are — not through rose-colored
glasses. And when things go wrong, my mind doesn’t naturally leap to silver
linings. It catalogs facts. Damage. Lessons learned the hard way.
But reflection isn’t about pretending things were good when
they weren’t.
Grace isn’t denial.
Grace is acknowledging the pain without letting it be the
final measure of your year.
If all you can see right now is what didn’t work, that doesn’t
make you negative. It makes you human. Just don’t let that be the only lens you
use.
Because survival counts.
Growth counts.
Endurance counts.
And sometimes, just staying — just not giving up — is the
bravest thing you did all year.
Becoming, Not Broadcasting — This Quiet Journey
We’re On
This post marks my 112th blog entry.
When I say that out loud, it surprises even me.
I don’t advertise this blog. I have social media, but I don’t
really use it the way you’re “supposed” to. Life is full. Time is limited. And
honestly? I’ve never been great at self-promotion.
So, if you’re reading this, I genuinely believe you were led
here.
The world is loud with negativity. With certainty. With people
who claim they have all the answers. My goal with AMC Rise and Thrive has
always been to be something different.
No pressure.
No illusions that I’m perfect.
No pretending I’ve figured life out.
I’m human — flawed, stubborn, learning, evolving, and still
trying to grow.
Learning, I’ve found, is a never-ending process. I plant seeds
based on my lived experience and my perspective. Will we always agree? Probably
not. And that’s okay.
I have people who challenge the way I think all the time. Do I
always listen? No. I’m honest about that. I’ve always been stubborn. No one has
ever been able to force me to think a certain way. I think my own thoughts in
my weird perspective.
If you’re like me, you understand that.
I don’t accept everything I’m told as gospel. I fact-check. I
research. I sit with ideas until they make sense to me. That’s my form of
independent thinking.
Is it right?
It’s right for me.
And that’s the truth we don’t talk about enough: we all have
to find our own way through this thing called life — carefully, thoughtfully,
imperfectly.
Free Will, Trust, and the Courage to Choose for
Yourself
One thing I want to be very clear about: I’m not here to force
my point of view down anyone’s throat.
You take what resonates.
You leave what doesn’t.
Or maybe it doesn’t resonate now — but later, after life
teaches you something, you’ll think, Oh… that’s what that meant.
Free will is one of our greatest strengths. But it also comes
with responsibility. Because not everyone you follow has pure intentions. Not
everyone who speaks confidently speaks truth.
I don’t trust easily. I never have. I keep people at arm’s
length until they show me, I can trust them. I’ve been this way since I was a
child. And yes, sometimes that makes relationships harder.
But those traits — the caution, the questioning, the
independence — are also what brought me here. To this moment. To this
community.
A space built on acceptance. On acknowledging differences. On
holding hope without demanding perfection.
As we close this year, I hope you can feel proud. Not because
everything went right — but because you’re still willing to grow. Still willing
to reflect. Still willing to sit with the questions instead of rushing past
them. And that is more important than you may realize.
If what you’ve been doing wasn’t working and you made the
choice to try something different, I applaud you. It’s easy to stay stuck in
what feels familiar, even when it’s unhealthy. Choosing change takes courage.
Just because we stumble doesn’t mean we’re failing. Growth
isn’t always upward. Sometimes we have to take a few steps back to reach the
next stage — and that, too, is part of growing up.
I say this as someone in her 40s who is still growing every
single day — as a woman, a mom, a wife, a daughter, and yes, even as a pastor.
So, as we step into this next year, my prayer is that we grow
into something that can positively impact future generations — together.
Affirmations 🌿
- I
honor every version of myself that carried me through this year.
- I
measure my life with compassion, not comparison.
- I
trust my ability to discern what aligns with my spirit.
- I
allow growth to unfold in its own time.
- I
move forward with wisdom, humility, and hope.
Bible Verse 📖
“To everything there is a season, and a time to
every purpose under the heaven.”
— Ecclesiastes 3:1
We all move through seasons in life. Some are for planting.
Some are for waiting. Some are for reaping. And all of them are part of the
cycle.
Since 2020, many of us have been living through a particularly
challenging season — one that has tested faith, patience, and endurance. But I
believe we are being prepared for something greater. Something deeper.
God’s plan doesn’t always arrive as a neon sign. Sometimes it
comes as a whisper. Or maybe through a blog you stumbled upon while searching
the internet (wink wink).
However the message reaches you, it’s meant for you. As God’s
children, we are created with purpose. We are meant to be loved unconditionally
— and sometimes that love doesn’t come from the world, but directly from Him.
🎵 Song of
the Day: “Seasons of Love” — Rent
This song stopped me in my tracks.
I’d heard it before, but this time I listened. Really
listened. And when I caught the line about 525,600 minutes, I had to
pause. Rewind. Look it up.
Funny thing is — it’s from Rent. If you’re not
familiar, it’s a musical about a group of friends navigating life, love, and
loss during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Back in 2006, my husband and I were given free tickets to see
it at Starlight Theatre. Free ninety-nine. So of course we went. It was August.
Humid as a sauna — Midwestern friends know exactly what I mean. And if you know
me, you know I don’t do heat well. At all. We didn’t stay long.
I don’t remember hearing this song back then.
And maybe that’s the point.
Sometimes we aren’t meant for the message until the timing is
right — until we’ve lived enough life to understand what it’s really asking.
The song doesn’t measure a year in accomplishments or
failures, but in love. In moments. In how we showed up for ourselves and
others.
So maybe that’s the invitation as we close this year:
to measure not just what happened… but how we loved through it.
Final Thoughts 🤍
Thank you for being here. Truly.
Thank you for walking this journey with me — whether you’ve been here from the
beginning or just found your way today.
This space exists because of connection. Because of curiosity.
Because of the quiet courage it takes to reflect honestly.
May you finish this year gently.
May you enter the next one intentionally.
And may you always remember — every minute mattered.
With hope and gratitude,
Angel
Founder of AMC Rise and Thrive
A Closing Prayer
So, let’s close this year with prayer.
Father God, today we come together as 2025 comes to an end. We
thank You for the breath in our lungs, for the lessons learned, and for the
grace that carried us through. We ask that You bless our lives with health,
love, and abundance as we complete this chapter together.
I pray for every soul who finds this page — that You would
restore faith, renew hope, or offer confirmation of Your presence and glory in
their lives. I lift up those in need of healing — whether from loss, illness,
exhaustion, or the weight of everyday life.
Thank You for every blessing, even the challenges that shaped
us. I place my faith in You to guide us in ways that allow us to help others,
to show compassion, and to live with purpose. Grant us strength, hope, love,
and patience.
Heal what is broken. Shape us into people who uplift those
around us. Let kindness and community grow stronger in this world.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bring
us peace in 2026 and help us become the best versions of ourselves.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.
Happy New Year, everyone. Be safe in your plans.
If this message resonated with you, please consider sharing it
— and explore the archive for another message that may be waiting for you.
Trust divine timing. We can’t rush what’s meant for us. We can only remain
open, receptive, and ready.
Many blessings to all who read this.
May you feel seen, supported, and deeply loved.
#AMCRiseAndThrive #YearEndReflection
#SpiritualGrowth #GraceOverPerfection #SeasonsOfLove
Explore more: AMC
Rise and Thrive | Chakra
Quiz | Subscribe
| Calendar
Comments
Post a Comment