“For the oak trees New Year’s Day is just another day. For the chickadee we have not turned a new year. But we humans are creatures of hope; we dare to believe that today is new.” 

— Source Unknown

Happy New Year! The above quote came across my desktop, and although I tried, I couldn’t find its origin. Still, I think the sentiment is filled with an optimism that is uniquely human. 

And that’s quite simply beautiful.

As humans, we are gifted an exclusive perspective. We are able to sense the beginnings, endings and newness that comes with the abstract concept of time. 

And each January, we all get the opportunity for a reset.

A reset on goals. A reset on priorities. A reset on perspective. A reset on mindset. A reset on life.

What a gift — if we let it be. 

It’s a new year and it’s a perfect time to assess. What about your life do you love? What do you want to keep? What do you want to change? How can next year be better than the last? How can next year be the best one yet?

It doesn’t take a new year to gain a new perspective, but it’s an opportune time nonetheless. An opportunity for hope. An opportunity to believe today is new — in a way that other days haven’t been. This January 1 we all enter a new year, with new outlook and opportunities. Don’t let them pass you by.  

You can decide to do new things, try new things. Or, maybe you want to return to something that you stopped doing, but miss having in your life. Maybe you want to reconnect with someone who used to be important to you. Maybe you want to work on your eating habits, or drinking habits or exercise habits. Maybe you’d like to meet new friends, or start a new hobby or just practice finding peace so you can sleep better at night. 

The options are endless and who better to invest in than yourself?

Changes don’t have to be large. I like to do things in baby steps because they are more easily achieved. And baby steps are still steps. They are steps in the right direction. 

Here’s another powerful truth: it’s all up to you. You (and you alone) have the innate ability to embrace your new year with a new perspective. It all comes from deep within, and the choice is yours. How will you choose to perceive the future? How will you choose to move into tomorrow? Spend some precious time with yourself and these answers will come. They will be obvious.

Perspective and perception shape our reality. In fact, they have a substantial role in creating it.

Hope keeps us engaged and moving forward. It keeps things new.

And when you understand and realize this, it is huge. 

Dare to believe in the new. It can change everything, in a good way. Isn’t all that exciting? I certainly think it is. 

Or at least it can be, if you make it so.

Make it so. I know I’m certainly going to try. Or better put, I’m going to continue to try. My hope for us all is to see 2026 with both hope and newness.

Happy New Year!

— Jill Pertler’s column Slices of Life appears regularly in the Times. She can be reached at slicescolumn@gmail.com.