If you're reading this, congratulations! You've survived the relentless beast that is/was 2016. I mean, really, what a pain in the ass these 365 days have been, right?
We lost the amazing talents of icons like Prince, David Bowie, Gene Wilder and Alan Rickman and, most recently, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. We weathered a hurricane in Florida, fires in Tennessee and floods in Louisiana/West Virginia. We grieved over the lives lost to terrorism in Orlando and protested over those lost to the war with our police.
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But most of all, we endured a great divide between wanting to be stronger together and making America great again. For months we drew lines that split "them" from "us." Instead of growing stronger, our country grew weaker as both sides called names and pointed fingers at each other. At the end of the day, we all helped America hate again.
But we got through it. You, me, us. We got through this year together, and now it's time to leave it behind.
So as we kiss 2016 good bye, and maybe flip it the bird on its way out, let's better next year by:
1. Smiling because you have a great one that deserves to be flaunted
I thought this one should go first because we need to bring in 2017 with as much positivity as possible.
I completely get that sometimes smiling is the last thing you want to do. Some days you just want to bury yourself in bed and scorn the world. That's totally okay! You're not alone. But for every dark day you have, try to make two bright ones.
So smile because you woke up this morning. Smile because the Starbucks line wasn't too long or because it didn't rain on your way to work. Smile because the bus wasn't running late or traffic wasn't backed up.
Smile because something good happened to you today!
2. Realizing you might not have it as bad as you thought
This one goes hand in hand with the first, and is also one I really suck at… ranting about my first world problems. You would not believe how many times a day I complain that the sky is falling and my world as I know it is devouring itself into a black hole...
But the sky is never falling, and my world is the same as it was yesterday.
Need a 'for instance'?
Last September I was flying back to New York from Tennessee. I had just spent an amazing weekend with my family and boyfriend after not seeing them for a month. But as I was flying back to school (on a Monday btw), the entire northeast decided it needed a torrential downpour. I got stuck in Philly for six hours, and I. Was. Losing. It. I was cursing any and every god, the universe, the weather, the airport, American Airlines, the dude sitting next to me who didn't have a care or worry in the world. I was cursing it all. I kept thinking, "why me? God, out of all people why do you always do this to me?"
But then, as I sat in a pool of despair and hatred, I saw the woman sitting across from me. She was wearing an army uniform, dusty brown hair pulled back, couldn't have been more than 25. She was on the phone trying to let her dad down easy that her flight had been cancelled and she might not make it back for his birthday.
"I got my weekend with my family. It was wonderful and everything I needed to get through the rest of the semester. So I started thinking "should I really be complaining about waiting a couple of extra hours in an airport when she might not get to see her family?"
So whenever you think the world is out to get you, look around. You may be the lucky one.
3. Putting down your stones
One of the few things I managed to take away from a handful of prepubescent bible school classes is John 8:7. “’He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” In more modern terms, we’ve all sinned, so don't judge. Gah, this is a really hard one for me. I feel like it's a part of human nature to judge. You meet up with your friends after a long week of work, toss back a few and then before you know it, your casting stones at the people walking by the bar window.
It just happens… but that doesn't make it excusable.
So this year, no matter how many beers you've had or friends your with, try remembering you have faults too before pointing out the ones of others’. And hey, maybe by the end of the year, you’ll scroll through Facebook without cringing or eye rolling!
