Since ancient times, we’ve looked to ants for their industriousness, their large yet high-functioning societies and their stewardship of resources (check out Proverbs 6:6-8 and 30:24-25). A new study shows we have more to learn from ants than we’d thought.

The bombings at the Boston Marathon. The bitter fight over gun control. The ricin-laced letters mailed to the president and a senator. The deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant in central Texas. The hunt for the bombing suspects that had one police officer dead and the entire Boston area on lockdown. A powerful earthquake in Sichuan Province, China.

I love New York. I know city life isn’t for everyone but I’m convinced that living here keeps me thinking positive. One big reason: the absolutely amazing variety of people in the city. They—or I should say, we—come from all corners of the Earth, and we all seem to belong here somehow.

I overheard two women in the elevator talking about changing their clocks this weekend. “We go back on daylight saving time Sunday morning,” one of them said. Whoo! I thought. I get an extra hour of sleep!

Then I remembered it’s “spring forward, fall back.” Clocks are turned forward an hour for DST, meaning I’ll lose an hour of sleep if I get up at the same time as usual. Darn.

We don’t do politics here at Guideposts, but I’ve got to highlight something President Obama said in his State of the Union address last week: “We were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can.”

I think this message has great relevance for a lot of us, not just members of Congress. Not because of my political leanings, but because of my perfectionist leanings, which can (and sometimes do) get in the way of my happiness and achievements—and certainly put a dent in my positive attitude.

How’s it going with your New Year’s resolution? Positive motivation usually falters right around now (it’s no coincidence that gym attendance, at a hopeful high in January, drops off by mid-February). Has that happened to you? No worries.

Reboot your resolution this weekend. It’s the perfect time: There’s a whole new New Year. Chinese New Year. The holiday is traditionally observed on the first day of the lunar year, which (this year) falls on Sunday, February 10.

Grand Central Terminal, one of my absolute favorite places on earth, turns 100 this weekend (the doors of the now-iconic rail station opened to the public at 12:01 A.M., February 2, 1913). To celebrate the centennial, I’m reprising something I wrote back when we published Positive Thinking magazine.

Something I never used to give a second thought to has become the bane of my existence (and my dog’s) lately: the stairs in my apartment building. The overhaul of the building elevator started January 3 and won’t be finished until early April. April! That means three months of going up and down the three long, steep flights of stairs to my apartment.

Neither of the New York teams made it to the postseason, so I thought I wouldn’t get into watching the NFL playoffs this year. I still wish the Giants could’ve made another improbable Super Bowl run, but it has been a rare and genuine pleasure to watch purely as a fan of the game rather than of a particular team.

Winky and I went for our morning walk on New Year’s Day early enough that the only others out and about were dogs and their owners. Penny the Chihuahua’s dad (I always seem to remember the dog’s name better than the person’s) ruffled Winky’s fur and asked, “Hey, Wink, what’s your New Year’s resolution?”