As we prepare to bid farewell to 2016, I thought it was only appropriate that I leave you with some final thoughts and observations from the year that was…
The year 2016 in so many ways was a spectacle of pure cinema. From the worst start in the US Equity Markets in years to the rebound to all time highs, and electing a man who “had no chance” in becoming the next U.S. President, 2016 saw its fair share of “No Fuc*ing Ways!”
Others like to use the more technical term: “Black Swan Event.”
“A black swan is an event or occurrence that deviates beyond what is normally expected of a situation and is extremely difficult to predict. These events are random and unexpected.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
It seems as of late that our culture finds is necessary to dwell on the negatives, making sure to focus on the glib side of every situation. How many times did we hear things like…
“If Trump is elected President, the market is going to crash, we will go to war, and life as we know it for this country is over. I’m moving to Canada.”
“Bowie, Ali, Carrie Fisher, Prince, etc. etc. etc all died – Fu*k YOU 2016.”
“Wells Fargo is all phony, Theranos and the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes, this guy/girl can now CHOOSE which bathroom they want to relieve themselves in, mass shootings, ISIS, hacking elections…”
Turning on the nightly news, reading your Twitter streams, and checking your Facebook newsfeeds is enough to bring you down daily. In my own family it was a year of struggle. Midyear, we got the classic reminder from an immediate family member, “That if you don’t have your health, you don’t have much of anything.”
“I’m letting life hit me until it gets tired – then I am going to hit back.”
Aside from all of the negatives in 2016, I’d be willing to bet that some good things happened too, things that are worth celebrating. Personally when I look back at 2016 I am going to remember the following:
I passed levels 1 and 2 of the CMT Program, further expanding my knowledge of the Global Markets.
I started Omahacharts.
I saw a family member stare a brain tumor directly in its ugly face, politely say “You Hit Like a Bitch” and beat it.
I read 28 books in my “free time” instead of scrolling through Instagram and Facebook to judge other people’s lives.
I got to meet a lot of people in the FinTech world that I look up to.
I spent time working on my relationship with my wife.
I stayed in shape.
I took a breathtaking helicopter ride above New York City.
I upped my average. I am the average of the 5 or so people I spend the most time with after all.
I am realizing while typing this that I could go on and on about good things that happened around me in 2016. Weird right? No, not really. I promise you can do the same if you allow yourself to see things in a positive light, and allow yourself to dream. Something that we as “adults” don’t spend nearly enough time doing.
We have a funny saying in my Trading Room that “All roads lead to pissed.” If I lose money on this trade I’ll be pissed. If I make money on this trade I’ll be pissed that I didn’t make more. And so it goes…
Life is funny that way. It doesn’t all have to make sense and it certainly doesn’t all have to be negative all the time. Let’s try our best to remember that as we head into 2017.
And so one last time in 2016 we head out to ring in the new year (with friends and family who hopefully up our averages). I can’t wait for 2017 and all of its ups and downs, and will leave you with a quote from the fantastic movie I saw last night called “La La Land.”
Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make. She captured feeling, sky with no ceiling, the sunset inside with rain. Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make.