Just a few days before having all the ingredients sorted for a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, I was trying to decide what I should write for the new year 2025. If that sounds like I was getting ahead of myself, remember that in publishing we work several months ahead. Anyway, preparing for that special dinner got me thinking about talents and gifts.

I had switched on a broadcast channel on my phone, and all I kept hearing were membership discount offers from fitness clubs. “You’re guaranteed to lose weight,” they claimed.

Sounds great, right? Lose weight, and start fresh and light in 2025. Well, I looked at my 19-pound turkey and all the side dishes I had in mind to make, and I asked myself how many pounds my scale would show I gained after Thanksgiving and the holiday season. Suddenly, those fitness club commercials didn’t sound so bad.

But then I thought about what else all that holiday feasting represented: spending time with family and friends, listening to everyone’s wonderful stories, and being thankful for the blessings and successes of the past year. That, along with a renewed appreciation for getting in shape, eased my worries about adding a few extra pounds.

We all have some shortcomings. Overindulging can certainly be one. Another, though, is failing to see beyond our shortcomings. Sometimes, we are simply way too hard on ourselves. We forget that as imperfect as we are, we still have been blessed with gifts and talents that are valuable to both ourselves and others.

If you are unsure about where your true gifts and talents lie, just think about what you enjoyed doing most in your childhood. When we “grow up,” we often grow out of what truly makes us happy. That’s a shame. I’ve often asked myself why I gave up on things I liked to do when I was young. Life happens, it’s true. But what about laughter? What about play? What about being active and full of energy?

Even as young adults, many of us had dreams of life after school—jobs, college, careers, family, success. We had goals, but then something happened. Maybe it’s just that we neglected our true gifts and talents.

So, as we begin this new year, I want to encourage you to seek a return to your best self—the one who laughed, played, imagined, dreamed, loved, and was not hung up on your shortcomings. Instead of creating “a new you,” as the fitness commercials promise, maybe 2025 can be a rebirth of the old you—the one who accidently got left behind. Look back and rediscover that inner child—who is just waiting to be let loose again.

Here’s looking forward to a great year of rediscovery!

Daniela J. Jaeger