I am no stranger to memes and GIFs poking fun at things going on in the world. I am super aware of the majority of things that went on in politics and pop culture in the last 12 months. Like everyone out there, I have my fair share of things that I agree and disagree with. With the new year approaching, we need to stop commenting on how much of a “train wreck” this year was.

New Years as a holiday symbolizes the fresh start and the kick off to all those resolutions we never follow through on. We have so much in our lives we want to change and grow from that universally the New Year just seems like the right time to do that, especially with all of the events that have happened in the last year. One thing we need to realize in order to make the changes is that we need to stop consistently pointing out how “horrific” this year was.

A lot of things occurred in this past year that probably should never have happened. More specifically, violence. No matter who is right or wrong, or how good or bad a year is going ALL acts of violence that have happened in the world this year are NOT okay. I am not here to spark change or tell you how we need to fix problems. But we can stop looking to our “Facebook friends” to tell us how “bad” everything else was this year.

The best thing I can recommend to EVERYONE is to start taking a look at your own lives. Is your life perfect? Chances are you just answered no to that question. I can’t think of a single person whose life is perfect. This should be no different in the world of pop culture and politics.Those are the things we seem to be basing our year off of. They do not make up every individual's life.

This is life. We gain and we lose something at some point. Everything is happening the way it should be. We make changes even when it isn’t a holiday dedicated to resolutions. Right now we still have to get through Christmas and Hanukkah. This week is the best time to take in everything around you. Look at the people around you and realize that all of the “bad” stuff the internet is telling you is happening is not so bad. Before you make your resolutions take the time during the holiday season to evaluate your life. It may not be as bad as the internet is telling you it is.