The Forced Hiatus

Since the second half of 2025, my life has quite literally been shit.

Family issues.

My grandmother falling ill.

My bank account being drained (losing tens of thousands of dollars of my hard-earned money).

Repeated blows to my long-term relationship.

And eventually, having to pause my Master’s program.

I started 2025 on a strong note, with a clear list of goals, and I was on track to complete them all. But somehow life decided otherwise, and without me even realizing it, it became one thing after the other.

During the time I was away from my computer, I kept asking myself:

Where did I mess up?

Did I bring this on myself?

Is this a consequence of bad decisions, or simply life doing what life does?

I remember randomly finding a video by Jordan Peterson about sacrifice. It didn’t comfort me or anything like that, but it reminded me of something that stayed with me for some odd reason:

Even if life keeps getting worse, you still have to fight.

Not because you’re guaranteed to win but because that’s what humans are built to do.

We are built to contend.

The Silver Lining

This period of my life really forced me to turn to God and talk to Him. A tale as old as the world: life becomes overwhelming, unmanageable, and man turns to the Creator.

So I prayed and read my Bible as faithfully as I could at the time, and guess what, nothing happened. No divine peace, no emotional breakthrough, no sudden feeling of a weight being lifted off my shoulders. NOTHING.

Whatever solace I was looking for did not come, at least not in the way I expected. However, over time, one verse became incredibly real and meaningful to me:

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
— Matthew 28:20

And that was it.

Something as simple as that became enough for me, not because I wasn’t feeling crushed by the weight of all those challenges, but because I actually started to believe that no matter what, God was in my corner.

If God got me, I'm good.

Going through this season showed me the quality of the people around me.

• My oh-so-amazing parents (it’s surreal to me) were unbelievably strong and supportive. The unwavering calmness and serenity of my mom, coupled with the eternal positivity and strength of my dad, kept me sane when I was spiraling mentally.
• My friends showed up for me in ways I would never be able to repay, and I thank God for each and every one of them. These guys literally saved my life, and I’ll never be able to thank them enough.
• Last but not least, my incredible gem of a girlfriend. I always knew she was amazing, but my appreciation and love for her went to infinity and beyond during this period. Watching her stay by my side while life kept throwing bomb after bomb humbled me deeply. Shoutout to Dr. O ❤️

Casper ten Boom

During this time, I read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom (why did I pick up a book about a family risking their lives to hide Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II? I don’t even freaking know!).

How crazy that while I was going through the worst time of my life, I found Casper ten Boom (the father of the family) going through unfathomable suffering and reacting in an odd way, to say the least.

Casper didn’t live an easy life. He didn’t escape suffering. Yet in the book, he is joyful, unshaken, and gentle despite the tragedy happening to him and his family. He wasn’t just optimistic, he remained steadfast in faith even under extreme hardship, a man so deeply anchored in his beliefs that no amount of ill fate could discourage him.

What I needed wasn’t the assurance that everything would go alright, but the resolve to fight for my dreams and stay grounded in my faith even in the event that things would continually worsen.

Casper’s faith wasn’t loud. It wasn’t performative. It was a quiet, stubborn goodness that refused to dissolve under pressure. And in my own much smaller struggles, that example mattered.

What’s Next

It’s simple: I just need to continue what I was doing, and I plan to pick up where I left off.

Writing weekly on this blog was never just about visibility. It’s about discipline, and forcing myself to understand cybersecurity concepts deeply enough to explain them simply.

I also want to engage more meaningfully with the cyber and tech community, not just chatting about CVEs, certifications, and exploits, but building real relationships with people.

My immediate short-term goals are to pass the CPTS from Hack The Box and the PSAA from TCM Security.

For my long-term goals, I’d like to expand my blog’s scope with book reviews (mainly tech-related) and malware analysis reports.

I don’t know what the next months are going to be like, but if this season has taught me one thing, it’s that progress doesn’t require ideal conditions. So I plan to take things one day at a time and do my best to stay consistent.

I wish yall a happy 2026!!!