Yes, some musicians and actors and athletes I like died, and we had a really contentious and nasty Presidential election, but entertainers and politicians aren’t responsible for my day-to-day (or year-to-year) happiness or contentment; I am.
This was the most successful year I’ve ever had professionally and financially, but that’s not how to measure whether a year was great or not. For me, it’s in large part concerts and travel.
This year, I got to see Madonna, Prince, Duran Duran, They Might Be Giants, Van Morrison, Smashing Pumpkins + Liz Phair, Willie Nelson + Kris Kristofferson, Cyndi Lauper, Journey + Doobie Brothers, Kenny Rogers, The Cure, Guns & Roses + The Cult, Richard Marx, Kanye West, Heart + Joan Jett + Cheap Trick, Adel, and Beyonce in concert.
I traveled to the Hike Inn in north GA (twice), Washington DC (twice), New Orleans, San Antonio, Edinburgh + York + London, Hadrian’s Wall hiking trail from Carlisle to Newcastle, Amelia Island, the Hiwassee River for kayaking, Dallas for a Bama game, Lake Guntersville to see my parents, St Simons Island, Cumberland Island, and Nashville (thrice). Even better, most of these trips included my wife and children.
For the past 3 days, I’ve been in Phoenix + the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert + Monument Valley + the Grand Canyon (where I am now!) with my family. Today, I stood where Forrest Gump stood when he stopped his 3+ years of running and decided to go home (and I made a reenactment video of same).
I can only hope we can have as many exciting adventures, good fortune, great health, and wise decisions in 2017 as we’ve had in 2016. And I hope the same for you.