Not every year can be the best. We know that. However, most of us allow ourselves to hope, in the early hours of a new January, that the year we face will be better than the rest or, at the very least, better than the last.
It is not uncommon for the most cynical among us to slip into that hope, even if we protect ourselves by expecting to be let down.
I am not a cynic — though adulthood seems intent on making me one — but I don’t think I’m alone in saying that 2016 let me down. Although it’s somewhat comforting to find community in the face of calamity, I would be surprised to meet anyone who didn’t prefer making connections under better circumstances.
It’s tempting to throw 2016 away — if you hadn’t already decided it belonged in the trash — and expect the start of 2017 to bring all manner of possibilities simply because it will be new.
If it hasn’t happened yet then it also hasn’t gone wrong yet, and millions of people will make resolutions to ensure that it won’t go wrong.
Unfortunately, if you weren’t satisfied with 2016, you would do well not to forget about it, but to examine it.
Whether your dissatisfaction comes from problems you still have to work on or problems you no longer have the chance to fix, you can’t count on the magic of a new year to make things better.
You can, however, count on yourself. Everyone’s favorite criticism of millennials is their sense of entitlement to the best in life, but I’d like to argue that people our age are no less aware of the need to exercise personal agency.
Responsibility can be a burden, and many of us love to complain about our responsibilities, particularly with humor, so that the burden doesn’t feel as heavy. However, if it’s your responsibility to make improvements, then it’s also within your control to ensure those improvements happen.
I’m sure we all want 2017 to be a better year. I’m sure that, even after having written this, I will watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve and feel the annual burst of inspiration when I think of what waits for me in days unlived.
However, this year the obligation to maximize whatever control I do have feels more pressing than it ever has. Many of the worst parts of 2016 seemed to be symptoms of misplaced attention or perhaps of a lack of attention altogether, which makes conscientious devotion to meaningful causes seem all the more necessary.
Next year will be OK, and it might even be great, but only if we make it that way.
mareklei@indiana.edu
