January 5, 2026

It's back to work and school after a long holiday break for most people. Hopefully you made it home safely from your travels - due to weather conditions and flight delays in certain regions related to the transport of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro - now waiting to stand trial in the Southern District of New York.

While most college students are still on break - younger students are back to school - luggage unpacked, backpacks and parents' work bags ready to go ... routines slowly coming back online.

There's a familiar mix of reluctance and resolve in the air as schools reopen and work routines restart. The pause we just had - full of reflection, rest, and maybe a little indulgence - now gently gives way to areas like the job market, relocations, future career moves, new friends, romantic relationships that have begun or ended, and ways to cope with life that you've learned over the past few weeks. Hopefully, you didn't overthink things to the point of creating unnecessary anxiety. The rule is to simply let life show you the way.

Life is about personal growth and experience. You're never going to have everything figured out because reality, like time, is always in flux. All you have to do is show up, trust your instincts, and keep learning about who you are, why you are here, without letting others define it for you along the way.

The new year is full of unwritten pages - today simply the first line of the next chapter of your life as 2026 takes shape. Be kind to yourself and pace your expectations. Welcome back to real life - you've got this.