This is why 2013 was the year of The Almost's

2013 was a very strange year. It was the year that Miley Cyrus and a Syrian war filled the headlines at the same time. 2013 brought a lot of chaos and confusion and also a lot of controversy and scandal. To me, 2013 seems like the year of “The Almost’s.” (No, not the band, although I do love The Almost). But for me, 2013 was the year that had so much potential and just couldn’t reach it or get to where it was headed.

On a grander scale, 2013 had so much promise and every time it seemed like we were making progress on something, it just fell through. The top news stories according to Yahoo! News were:

1. Jodi Arias trial
2. Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)
3. Boston Marathon bombing
4. Royal baby birth
5. George Zimmerman trial
6. Syria civil war
7. North Korea missile threats
8. Papal transition
9. Death of Nelson Mandela
10. Paula Deen lawsuit

You don’t need me to tell you why all of these things just had potential; some of them actually aren’t that bad and still have the possibility to do something great such as the Pope and the Royal baby. Those two united people and have the capacity to keep uniting people. But everything else on that list just divided people or brought about sadness or worry.

On a personal note, my life too had a lot of twists and turns in 2013 that could have (and still might) evolve into something greater. But my job almost worked out. My sports team almost won the Finals. Yet another relationship that almost made it.

I try not to dwell on those things though, because I want to move on and just keep getting better. While there were a lot of Almost’s, there were still things that worked out. And what people, and I myself, tend to forget is that the world doesn’t stop at 2013. Just because there are so many year-end reviews and various reflections, that doesn’t mean that the stories that were prominent are completely over. We still have more time, thankfully. And I'm not dismissing 2013 entirely. There were definitely good aspects about it.

I don’t know what 2014 will bring about but I am so optimistic because I know that I have grown so much in the past year. Whatever happens, even if it’s just potential, I have total faith that everything will work out just fine.