“Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” – “The Old Astronomer to His Pupil” by Sarah Williams

The year 2016 was a year of uncertainty and change. The world faced challenges unlike any faced before, with results that were completely unexpected. This last year was a sea of red, there was much violence and death, and fear and intolerance were in abundance. At certain points, it may have appeared that the world was shrouded in darkness, however 2016 was not all negative. For each negative, there was a positive; the Olympics, the United States opened relations with Cuba, China banned ivory trade, Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar, the Cubs won the world series, a vaccine for Ebola was created and there were many other positive events that occurred within the last year.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

In Pasadena California, the Rose Parade, which celebrates and showcases the city of Los Angeles, was presented beautifully, exhibiting themes of tolerance, love and hope. Many floats represented overcoming adversity and rising from the past to embrace the future. It was a beautiful and inspirational way to start the new year. Messages of hope could be gathered from this performance.

Despite the uncertainty that the new year contains, hope cannot be forgotten. The world works in ways of harmony; for every negative event that occurs, a positive event occurs, for every death that occurs, there is a birth that occurs, this is the way of the world. Everything happens for a reason. So in spite of the uncertainty, in spite of the fear, remember to have hope; hope for the future, hope for life. It is always tomorrow in some other part of the world.