Hello. Welcome back everyone. I hope your holidays were joyous and full of cheer. I hope your bellies were full as well as your hearts. I hope you enjoyed your time with your families, or at least it wasn’t too difficult to tolerate them. I hope all of these things and more; and, if my well wishes did not turn out for you… well, there’s always next year, right?

That’s what I wanted to talk about today. Hope. Anticipation. Optimism. It’s such an innately human expression. Other members of the animal kingdom don’t make new year resolutions, don’t plan weddings or birthdays. These are celebrations and traditions we encourage across multiple cultures and societies, why? Because we are an inherently optimistic as a species.

It makes perfect sense when you think about it. Who wouldn’t try to hope for the best? Live for the future? The brighter day is always tomorrow and we always strive to make our children’s lives better than our own. It’s what has advanced us throughout the ages. It's what has propelled our species past our caveman beginnings and keeps us striving towards the stars. We’re a hopeful, curious, passionate people and we practice traditions that enforce this outlook. It helps fight the monotony, the boredom, the daily grind… so then why does it feel like things aren’t so bright down the road recently?

2016 was a difficult year, to say the least. We had a heated election in the United States, multiple acts of violence and terror filled our TV screens, not to mention the cavalcade of celebrity deaths that were splashed across social media. It felt like the world is spinning out of control, didn’t it? That it might very well have been the end of everything. Society breaking down and imploding in on itself in fire and madness…

You thought I was being a little over-dramatic there, didn’t you? That’s because there’s a part of you who is, above all else, optimistic. We’ve got a lot to be happy for actually. Malaria is down 60% world-wide. Work on reviving the Colorado River was completed. For the first time, the cost for ending poverty was less than the amount spent on foreign aid. Veteran Homelessness has dropped 50% since 2010. Tiger numbers are rising, American teen graduation rates as well, and death by heart disease dropped by 70%. You see? We have a lot to be proud of, and a lot to be hopeful for by the end of 2017.

So, for the next 12 months, keep that chin up. Wake up every day and remind yourself that with a new sunrise, comes new possibilities. Bad days only last 24 hours, and then there’s a new chance at happiness. Don’t pay attention to the doom and gloom media, they just want their ad revenue. Don’t stress over what you have no control over. Instead, focus your efforts on being the positive change you want to see in your life. Others will follow. For we are a hopeful bunch, we humans.

So raise thy glasses, high overhead

And salute a year gone by

And that which is promised, we strive for yet

Or at the very least, we’ll try

Cheers!