The Year That Was 2016

 

Hello there Vikings! As the year slowly comes to an end, I can’t help but think what a wild, crazy, unpredictable, melancholy year this has been.

To me, it seemed heinous crimes reached an all-time high, young and older people have died at alarming rates, cost of living skyrocketed, and the confusion regarding the leadership of the States made the people more frenetic than usual.

Then, it suddenly dawned on me why people were departing this earth in huge numbers. It could all be blamed on a simple malady called “Stress”.

Americans and people living in the United States are stressed out because so many promises were made and none were kept. At first, they did their best to revolt then they realized they were fighting a losing battle, so people just went along with the program hoping things would get better but it did not.

There is not an industry that has not been tainted by this 10-year recession we have been in. From Wall Street to the Entertainment business, everyone is basically fighting for their lives. Hoping to stay above water.

Most individuals found it easier to suffer in silence instead of speaking up and changing the game. As a result, things got progressively worse. A large percentage lost their livelihoods, homes, families and lifestyles.

The truly sensitive decided to take matters into their own hands and just checked out. The changing tides became too much for them to bear.

This year was the great equalizer in the sense that it did not matter what your economic status was, you were somehow tainted by the cruelness of the changing tides. If you were rich, many found themselves desperately trying to procure their riches from unsavory characters and charlatans. If you were middle class, you found yourself slowly disappearing from the workforce, and if you were poor, a sense of hopelessness seemed to permeate through the air.

All across the globe, there was not a family which was not affected by the sorrow which endured on a monthly basis.

Many looked to the media and politicians for assurance but there was none because they too were caught up in the melodrama of empty promises and theatrics. For the delicate souls, all the undertakings were just too much to absorb so they went gently into the goodnight.

The really sad part is, it was not just an American problem, ultimately it proved to be an International dilemma. The condition of the world is putting stress on its inhabitants because the leadership is lacking in reassurance, results and giving real hope for a promising future.

Most humans are working harder than they have ever worked before due to the changing job market. Workers are wearing multiple hats including dabbling in entrepreneurialism in order to make ends meet and to have something they can call their own.

In the grand scheme of things, business people are finding that the current conditions aren’t giving their companies or them any impetus to thrive, let alone survive. Each day it becomes more difficult to be a capitalist in America because a few ill-willed persons have drained the life out of the economy.

I have always believed a country’s richest resources are the health of its people. But, when stress, violence, and financial deficiencies take center stage it is only a matter of time before stress related illnesses begin to take over, silently extinguishing the lives of those who we love and revere.

As the year 2016 bids adieu let’s all hope that 2017 will be a year of healing, restoration, and rejuvenation for all. Wishing everyone a Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year!