"2016 you sucked."
"If 2017 is anything like 2016, I'm not participating."
"2016 was an L"
These are just three of the thousands of tweets over the past few days, displaying how people felt about 2016. We've all seen them. And of course there were parts of 2016 that weren't great. Some really did suck, but the thing is, every single year has those times. Those lows that some of us don't think we can escape. But I think what we fail to forget is that we aren't the only human beings going through these lows, so many others are right there with us. Not just with us, but so many others have experienced the exact same things, made it through those lows, and are continuing their lives.
Maybe that's what's wrong with society today (answer to the impossible question). Too many of us dwell on the negative things that went on in the past year, and as soon as something goes wrong, the new year will be written off and never given a chance. But why? Why do we not focus on the things that went well?
I'm sure we've all seen the "100 Happy Days" Challenge. But for those of you who don't know, it's a challenge to find something positive every single day for 100 days. The method behind this challenge is really something great. It pushes people to find happiness in the everyday things which could have been a real struggle in the past. But why just 100 days of happiness? What happens after those 100 days?
I've decided to create a new challenge, with 365 days of happiness that doesn't just stop after one year, but continues onto the next year, the year after that, and just keeps going. Because we all know it's so easy to just look at the negative, but having a challenge to find something positive every single day, even on the bad days, I believe can prove to be a contagious habit. Not only can this be a great habit, I also believe that finding happiness in just the littlest of things can really be a way to humble yourself in a world that never stops, slows down, or takes a break.
Read a book, get some ice cream, drink a hot cup of coffee, go on a run, watch a sunrise, and truly stop to smell the roses. Finding those little pieces of positivity will truly make the bad times good, and the good times better.
So here's to not only 2017, but every single year after, and making the world a happier place, even during the not so happy times.
