Everyone all other the internet seems to be complaining that 2016 was a bad year. If 2016 was a bad year, it’s your own fault.
There are three areas that seem to be referenced when the internet laments on how 2016 was a bad year. Let’s break it down.
Celebrity Deaths
We had a lot of awesome celebrities die this year. Carrie Fisher, Anton Yelchin, Prince, David Bowe were all people who the internet spent 3 days memorializing. There were countless others in 2016.
While I am sad I won’t get to see theses actors in any new movies or hear any new songs from these artists, their death has zero impact on my day to day life. This might sound harsh; but think about it. Was there anything yesterday that you could not do because Alan Rickman was dead? How about last week?
It is narcissistic for us to take the terrible death of a stranger and project the tragedy upon ourselves. Do you know who lives these celebrity tragedies? Their friends and family who knew them as people, not just characters that entertained us. Carter Thicke is the one who can’t call his dad, Alan, tomorrow and tell him about all the fun he had at a NYE Party.
So yes, offer condolences to the family of Gene Wilder, but don’t pretend the death of celebrity strangers ruined your year.
The Presidential Election
Oh boy was it entertaining watching all the tears flow at the Hillary Clinton Election “Party” wasn’t it? I thought that would be the end of it, but the outrage of the election results will not go away. To be clear, I did not vote for either candidate. I hated that those two people were my options. But regardless, Donald Trump hasn’t even taken office yet; how did he ruin a whole year?
Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house. -Barbara Bush
He might enact some crazy laws that ruin 2017, but until then how was your yesterday impacted by the presidential election? Were you a Russian diplomat (spy) expelled from your embassy? Probably not.
Harambe the Gorilla
Harambe’s death was an all around bad situation. Improper protective railings, poor parental supervision, and a zoo that had to make a tough choice to know if Harambe’s protective instincts were actually killing little 3 year old. The Cincinnati Zoo finally had to make make the hard choice to shoot Harambe the Gorilla.
shame on those for the murdering of #Harambe
— Kelly! (@KellyOsbourne) May 31, 2016
Social media went crazy when it found out Harambe was killed! There was even a petition on Change.org to get Mary D. Bradford High School in Kenosha Wisconsin to change their football field’s name to “Harambe Memorial Field.” It got over 900 signatures! The truth of the matter was that animal behavior experts suggest that the zoo did not have a choice.It was a sad thing that Zookeepers were put in this unwinnable situation, but Harambe’s death isn’t something we should use to claim that 2016 was a bad year.
It was a sad thing that Zookeepers were put in this unwinnable situation. Unless you had a family vacation planned this year to go to the Cincinnati Zoo to visit Hamabe, his death isn’t something we should use to claim that 2016 was a bad year.
How Do We Define 2016?
You define 2016 by how it affects you. What life events impacted you? Do you get married/lose a parent/get a promotion/have a child/move to a new place/make a new friend?
These are the things that define our years. These are the things that impact us. As I look back on 2016 we have so much to be grateful for! I bought a house, I traveled to New York for work, I spent a lot of time playing Legos with my kids, and I have a wife who actually wanted me to take her to see Rogue One.
That isn’t to say that things were perfect. We had some hard moments too. I didn’t get the promotion I wanted, I gain some weight, and sometimes the bills and the income didn’t balance. But, from those hard times, I grew and progressed and became closer to the person Heavenly Father wants me to be.
How was your 2016?
Comment below with three of your own personal triumphs this year. If you are on Instagram, try generating your 2016 Best Nine and see if that give you some ideas. Here was mine.
