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Sunday, December 25, 2016

Why do we complain? Looking back at 2016.

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of people- in school, on TV, around town - saying that they can't wait for this crazy year to end.

Every December, Google undergoes a certain 'trend'. Every year, there is a spike of searches for the "worst year ever". Why is every year a bad year? In fact, we call every year the 'worst year ever'. I agree, there were unexpected surprises, horrible terrorist attacks, deaths of many celebrities, etc., but I don't think these add up to 2016 being the 'worst year ever'. I'm sure every year has its shocking and saddening events, but it seems like we forget about these events once the clock ticks 12:00 AM on January 1st of the next year. All of a sudden, we begin to keep a new list of the bad things that happen. Why are we always complaining about the present? Often we forget the events of the past and are ignorant of the problems of the future.

In January of 2016, music fans around the world grieved for the death of music icon David Bowie. Soon after that, Alan Rickman, a distinguished actor who played Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films passed away. His death shocked many Harry Potter fans, including me. Early events such as these deaths started the unpredictable and long year. More terrible news followed, from the bombings in Brussels and the spread of the Zika virus, to a water crisis in Flint, Michigan. So, yes I think there have been many dreadful events happen in 2016, but it doesn't mean we should complain and whine about this year being the 'worst year'.

Donald Trump won the presidential election and about 57% of US citizens are unhappy with the results. They say he won't know what to do because of his lack of political experience. However, about 90 million eligible voters did not go to vote. A similar event, Brexit, experienced the same problem. People were not voting. They didn't want to contribute to the future of their country but, when the results came, they were angry. It's simple, if you want a certain type of government, you vote. If you don't vote, things might not go the way you want it to.

2016 was definitely an unforeseeable year. The US had its first female presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. The no-DAPL inspired many to fight for what you think is right. This summer, Pokemon Go got kids and adults moving, rather than staying in bed for the whole day. The 108-year curse was broken when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Scott Kelly returned from a year in space. And, let's not forget about the hilarious Joe Biden and President Obama memes that have popped up after the election!

Amazing things have happened this year, so we shouldn't be complaining about the problems of 2016. We should look to the future and plan on making 2017 a great one.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a happy new year :)