2016
 

A lot of people are talking about what an awful year 2016 was. But someone must have had a good year! Surely someone was promoted, or had a baby that was badly wanted, or bought their dream home, or found out that they're cancer-free, etc.

So what was 2016 like for you?

Boyfriend of 3 years broke up with me, my tuition went up, said increased tuition took a lot of my savings this year, and just to top it all off I couldn't find any work in the month of December so all my savings are practically gone lol.

I think 2017 is going to be a better year though. To be honest I really can't think of anything good that happened to me in 2016 other then passing all my classes despite me putting in little to no effort in my Fall Semester.

2016 was pretty bad for me too.

In February my partner's mother died. I was not close with her, but my partner was, so it was hard on him.

We had to pay a little over $2,000 for her cremation.

Less than a week after she died, he was in the emergency room with intense abdominal pain. We found out that he's full of kidney stones. We've had to go to the urologist around 10 times over the past year, and we've probably spent around $1,000 there, and they still haven't done anything at all. They just keep having him pee in jugs.

Then I had to clean my partner's mother's room out, so that was a lot of work.

Then I broke my finger, so that was another few hundred dollars.

Then we took two of our dogs to the vet for routine checkups and shots, which came to $300. One of them ended up needing $775 surgery one week later. Then a cat had a hematoma in his ear one week later, so we had to go back in for another $100, which didn't even take care of the hematoma at all.

Then Trump.

Antidepressants and bad psychiatry resulted in a suicide attempt. Ill four times this year (food poisoning, bronchitis, flu, strep). Family friend tried to sue my family.

But, I did do some drawing and visited family I haven't seen in over two years. And there's Trisphee.

2016 was up and down for me. First Bowie and Rickman passing... then a major health scare that resulted in me being hospitalized overnight (Thank the deities that my insurance covered it in full) right before my birthday, but being hospitalized resulted in me getting started toward getting the help I've needed for years. Had a bad depression episode in mid-November, which lead to me getting put on some new medications, and started in therapy. Since then, I've been feeling better, and my health has improved so when the weather does the same, I'll be able to actually exercise and not worry about getting winded a few blocks from home. I'm slowly but surely working toward a healthier me, both physically and mentally.

Grandma died, cut off ties with my on/off bf of four years, went to California, cut ties with my dad + more
it sucked

Well...my job and financial situation has really sucked, but my year had a few good moments too such as: I got my first tattoo, I learned how to make some pretty adorable stuffed animals (and have sold over a dozen of them at a craft sale), learned some basics of chainmaille, and I made a few really awesome friends that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Hmmmm for me . . . It started out well (aside from celebrity deaths and what not). It had a lot of promise! I was working for this guy for my 3rd year and we were finally opening our new stores, I was training people to do stuff, making ads, having a great time of it. But thennnnnnnnnnn said boss started going power crazy, thought everybody was out to get him, job got progressively worse and worse. I found out I was pregnant which was pretty cool but I ended up using that as an excuse to get away from said bad boss. . . and I had to give up my apartment and stylish life in Oregon to move in with my parents ^^;;;

Every year is about the same level of depressing imo...so unless I win PCH, or my youtube channel really takes off, well, it'll probably be the same for a long time.

A good friend is in remission from a cancer diagnosis.
No one that I love has died. 2016 had some worries and disappointments but any day and any year above ground is good.

2016 seemed kinda samey. I went back to college after a year-long break, so I feel like I'm finally moving forward, but I'm not that good at classes so... same problems as last year, I guess. Oh well.
Life keeps moving on. I'm hoping 2017 has some real excitement or points of interest, though I probably have to work at it to make them happen... gotta get that drive back lol.

Honestly, this is the kind of comment I would rather hear. Saying 2016 was terrible has become memetic -- that is, people have become convinced that it was terrible because of everyone saying it was terrible. And because humans perceive bad things more acutely than good things (it's a survival instinct!) that makes it easy for the meme to spread.

Overall, 2016 wasn't the worst year in recent history. Some sucky stuff happened; some good stuff happened. Maybe, on balance, it might have been slightly worse than average on some metrics, but overall it was a pretty typical year, and by the most important metrics it was in all probability at least slightly better than the years that came before it -- fewer people in poverty, more people fed, people living longer, fewer deaths due to any cause worldwide.

It's easy to let news stories about bad things distract us from all of the positive things in our lives. The new year should be a time to reflect and remember how our worlds have improved.

Well, from what I heard it was bad in other nations and for other people, but for me? It's the same level it has always been, of course I don't live in area that is being bombed, or has war happening within it...now if I was in one of those areas, I;d probably say 2016 was a POS

The terrorism stuff would be a legitimate thing to say was worse, because while it's not the WORST year for terrorism on record, it WAS admittedly pretty bad, especially in that it spread to regions that had previously been considered safe.

And some people have had serious struggles in 2016, losing jobs or homes or relationships, and those kinds of personally-relevant sources of pain are completely understandable.

But to be honest, most people I've heard complaining about 2016 around the Internet are talking about celebrity deaths or fears about political stuff that hasn't actually happened yet. Of those that aren't complaining about those subjects, I didn't hear very many people saying how bad 2016 sucked until it had already become a meme.

That's why I want to tell people to reflect on the good things that happened. Life is a lot less unpleasant when you pay attention to the good parts, and even a good life can feel disappointing when you focus on the bad.

Looking back, I don't remember much of 2016 at all. I think I grew as a person this year a lot though. But then again, I'm reaching to height of my teenage years ^~^'

It was a rollercoster all around for me personally...
But I guess the overall feeling was a good one.
I had a son, and my daughter now lives with me full time. I also managed to make it a year and a half with a woman that I love dearly. And my business is doing pretty good overall.
So I'll take it.

On a global scale though... Wow, this year was awful.

2016 might not have been the worst year ever when you look at it from a general/historical/global level. But at the same time, I feel like we should be way more progressed than this at this point. And it was definitely a way worse year than average for me on a personal level. And on a political level too. Trump has proposed a lot of horrific changes that will seriously negatively impact the lives of millions of people. I think it's ok to be afraid of that kind of stuff even if it hasn't technically happened yet.

Progress is slow. Progress has always been slow. The way the government of the United States is designed, progress is intentionally slow. The way the Constitution has built the US government is specifically designed to keep things stable -- no one wants to live in a country where they've got to wonder if the laws are going to completely change next year, and no one wants to live in a country where there's a risk that someone they don't like can seize power and change things for the worse. The Founding Fathers understood this and put a system in place with checks and balances, so that power is distributed across several groups that make sure the others all stay well-behaved and observe the common good.

Patience is a virtue.

And the same things that make you feel like progress is slow are also going to be the same things that will make all of the doom-and-gloom predictions probably not come true. The office of the President doesn't actually have the power to do some of the things that people are afraid of.

As for Trump in specific: I don't actually LIKE the man, and I didn't vote for him, but the fear about him is almost entirely manufactured. People have attributed a lot of policies to Trump's candidacy that he hasn't actually proposed. Assumptions are made based on things Trump said YEARS ago, not during his campaign. Worst-case scenarios are talked about without regard for the fact that real policy implementations HAVE to take such things into account or else the bills won't pass. And the things that MIGHT be legitimate fears have all of the negative aspects played up, and because bad news travels fast the clarifications and further discussion that would improve on the situation get overlooked.

Make no mistake: This is intentional. There has been a ludicrous amount of effort centered around making Trump look as villainously scary as possible.

So again, this brings me back to my core point: It's VITAL to look for the good things in the world, because people are innately biased to see bad things.

Coda: Well said. I have to agree with you about Trump and how he has been made to look worse than he is. Perhaps I am being a Pollyanna, but I believe that he will be a decent president. My concern as always is the mainstream press, the idealogues with agendas, the fake news cycles that seem to be 24/7 and mostly the oligarchs that rule the world.

Wikileaks has certainly opened my eyes to the machinations by the DNC to keep Bernie Sanders from being a player in the race. There is more coming.

I do agree with Sanssouci that as a society we should be further along, it seems that this year will make or break us I feel. As Americans we should want Trump to succeed, and maybe a new outlook on things is what we need. I don't know what the answer is. WE cannot survive if we become entitled, that cradle to grave socialist entitled society. That is not the foundation of this country. We are not Europe.

As for Russia hacking (which I don't believe) we meddle in other countries' elections all the time. Didn't Obama go to the UK and tell them that if they vote to leave the EU, then they would go to the back of the line as far as a trading partner with the USA?

I will be optimistic, but I have moments of deep despair over the direction of this country, of the violence, and of the press induced divide.