As we pause to glance back and reflect on the year in review, I’m struck by the events, circumstances and people which made us collectively pause during 2012…
From the London Olympic games to an incredibly expensive American election to the December elementary school shooting…
From the so-called “Arab spring” that turned into the summer of discontent that turned into a seemingly constant state of volatility and unrest…
From the “Occupy” protests to the Super Bowl champion, almost-missing-the-playoffs Giants to Wendy’s overtaking Burger King to become the second best selling hamburger chain…
From the murdering of the American ambassador in Benghazi to the Aurora, Colorado Batman shooting to the recognition of some of the specifics within Obamacare…
From the return of James Bond to Clint Eastwood’s odd, non-talking chair to the “Avengers,” “Hunger Games,” and still-grossing “Hobbit”…
From the books that grabbed our attention, again from “The Hunger Games” to new stories from both Grisham and Baldacci to all those “shades of grey”…
From the overspending in the United States to the overspending in Greece to the overspending in much of the entire European Union…
From the weak attempts to fix the overspending in all of the above — recognizing that spending is always easier than cutting no matter who is currently in charge…
From the arrest of the Pope’s butler to the shocking power of Hurricane Sandy to the inactive global response regarding the ongoing Syrian civil war…
From the additions to our vernacular — via “tebowing” or “kardashianed” — to entire new phrases — such as “Gangnam Style,” “fiscal cliff,” or so-called “legitimate rape” — to a growing supply of JoeBidenisms.
From the downfall of Lance Armstrong to the upstart of Paul Ryan, Gabby Douglas, and Pinterest to the excitement surrounding Corey Booker, Susana Martinez, and Marco Rubio…
From the loss of Whitney Houston, Joe Paterno, and Thomas Kinkade…
To the loss of Davy Jones, Donna Summer, and Dick Clark…
To the loss of Mike Wallace, Nora Ephron, and Neil Armstrong…
To the loss of Chuck Colson, Roy Bradbury, and Rodney King…
And the loss of Andy Griffith, Ernest Borgnine, and Sally Ride…
Not to mention Marvin Hamlisch, Andrew Breitbart, Phyllis Diller, Davy Jones, and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon…
Or George McGovern, Larry Hagman, Helen Gurley Brown, Charles Durning, Jack Klugman, and Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf…
It is wise to pause and reflect… to remind and remember… from the good to the bad… from the healthy to the unhealthy… recognizing what we will miss and what we will not… to thus learn from and move forward… prepared for the learnings and growth from the wisdom awaiting in 2013…
Respectfully,
AR