We're already a month in a half into 2017 and there is already a list of good and bad for the year. But let's take a minute to look back and remember the good that 2016 brought us.
Yes, Donald Trump was elected our president, yes we lost a lot of great people and yes there were a number of terrorist attacks. But not everything that happened was bad. While some people will look at 2016, and define it as one of the worst years, there are those who will look at 2016 at define it as one of the best years.
1. Leo won his Oscar. After being nominated 6 times for Best Actor, Leo was finally able to take home the title for his role in The Revenant.
2. High School graduation rate reached a historic high. 83.2% of the nation’s high schoolers graduated.
3. The world came together for the 2016 Summer Olympics and we actually supported one another.
4. India planted 50 million trees in one day, smashing a world record.
5. Peyton Manning went out on top. 39 years old, Super bowl MVP and a Hall of Fame career. Can’t go out much better than that.
6. Tigers were taken off the endangered list. As well as Giant Pandas and Manatees. There are now 3,890 Tigers, 2,060 Giant Pandas and there are between 7,634 and 10,434 Manatees.
7. Cleveland won a major sports Championship. Fans watched Lebron come in clutch with a block that would ultimately allow his team to become NBA Champions for the first time in franchise history.
8. The America’s (North and South) are measles – free.
9. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge paid off, researchers discovered the gene NEK1, which ranks among the most common genes that contribute to ALS. We are one step closer to eliminating the disease.
10. There was a new Harry Potter book.
11. The Chicago Cubs won. How cool is it that today’s kids will grow up knowing that the Cubs have won a World Series in their life time?
12. Pokemon Go took over. It’s one of the best video games that we have seen in a while, it gets people off the couch and outside and moving, while still enjoying a video game.
13. Finding Dory was released and we got to fall in love with her all over again.
14. The unemployment rate is the lowest that is has been in the past nine years.
15. Netflix added offline downloads. You can literally watch Netflix whenever, wherever you want now.
16. You survived.
Here's to hoping 2017 can bring us even more joy.
