I think that it’s safe to say that 2016 has been an anomaly. We witnessed by far one of the weirdest and contentious presidential elections to date. We witnessed tragedy and destruction in the middle east. We witnessed some of entertainment’s greatest stars pass away. David Bowie, Prince, Alan Rickman, George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. The list goes on and on. Across all social media I’ve been seeing post after post saying “2016 has taken ____” or “If 2016 takes away ____ I’m done”. Well, I have news for you.

2016 didn’t "take" anyone.

2016 is a number. Last time I checked, a number is just a value. A numerical value doesn’t take innocent lives. A numerical value doesn’t cause the death of famous people. A numerical value doesn’t elect Donald Trump as the next president of the united states (well it does, but you get my point). To blame Donald Trump being president-elect, animosity in the middle east, and the death of celebrities on a number is ridiculous.

Life took people. People took people.

We live in a very crazy, messed up world. There's a lot of things the world could have done differently this year. While we could have elected a different president and worked harder for peace, unfortunately we can't prevent everything. As human beings we like to think that we have control over the universe and everything that happens within it. While we do have control over things like the election, we don't have control over who leaves us. As much as we don't like to think about it, death is inevitable. We can't always stop people from dying. We're conceived, we live, and then we die. It's just apart of life. Keep in mind that we can't focus on what we don't have control over.

Let's stop blaming our woes on the year 2016, and start working towards a better, more positive 2017.