After one of the strangest years in my brief history on earth, it is time to sit back, reflect, then completely try to forget everything that transpired this year.

All the pain, all the loss, all the bizzareness, all the ugliness, all the hate, should be put on the back-burner and dismissed as an anomaly.

I know I am not the only one that has been stung recently, so I need not create a narrative of ‘woe is I’ right now. Let’s just say that whenever a landmark even happens, such as a ‘new year’, we all like to cleanse the ills of the past and start with a clean slate.

With that said, I think we should all strive for this new beginning with this first step: purge all the garbage out of your life. Those people that are harmful in your life? Dismiss them. Those ‘friends’ of yours that never respond back or only incite communication when things are down in your life? Erase their numbers. Anything or anyone that makes you feel bad….just end it.

Start 2017 with a feeling of hope and an idea that things will get better. I think the attempt to start everything this year with a positive feel will help set up a brand new year.

Well, at least until you turn on MSNBC and reality strikes again.