It’s been a tough year for a lot of us. As we count down the hours left in 2025, I suspect the overwhelming feeling is “relief” that this year is over. And I can’t say I blame folks. Even the people who were looking forward to this year would probably say that it didn’t turn out like how they expected.

But there were still good things that happened this year. Let’s list them off:

* Trachoma was eliminated in Egypt, Senegal, Burundi, Mauritania, Fiji, Togo and Papua New Guinea, bringing one of the world’s oldest plagues a step closer to eradication.

* For the third straight year the world produced record amounts of wheat, grain and rice, all the while the total amount of farmland has dropped. Global hunger is now dropping for the first time since the pandemic.

* Global unemployment is now at its lowest level since 1991 and 80 percent of the world’s adults now have bank accounts.

* The US had its lowest murder rate since the FBI started tracking that statistic in 1960 and the global murder rate continues to decline.

* Strides were made with gene therapy techniques, allowing for several medical breakthroughs. From allowing deaf people to regain hearing, to successfully treating Huntington’s Disease for the first time.

*Solar power is now the largest source of energy in California, providing nearly 40% of the electricity for the state. Meanwhile China’s greenhouse emissions continue to decline as they transition to green energy to the tune of 330 gigawatts of solar and wind power.

* The High Seas Treaty was ratified by 79 nations, giving nations a legal framework to protect oceans outside of their territorial boundaries. This could result in the largest network of ocean sanctuaries ever.

* The Ozone Layer continues to heal, with scientists estimate the hole could start to close up in the 2030s and may completely disappear by the middle of the century.

* Liechtenstein and Thailand both legalized same-sex marriage, and the US Supreme Court upheld those protections by refusing to hear a case that sought to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.

* Firefly Aerospace became the first commercial company to successfully land on the Moon.

* Observations of exoplanet K2-18b reveal that its atmosphere contains certain trace gasses that, on Earth, are only produced by living organisms.

* Leo XIV becomes the first American to be elected Pope of the Catholic Church.

* The No Kings Protests in the United States became the largest single day protests in American history, with estimates indicating that over 1% of the entire American population attended a protest.

* The Axiom4 mission was launched, its crew consisting of the first Polish and Indian astronauts since the end of the Cold War.


If you missed all of that, you’d be forgiven. But now that you, dear reader, are in the future, hopefully you’ll remember the strides that were made in 2025. Even in a year where it felt like it was constantly one step backwards, there were still moments that we took a step forwards.

Of course, there are those who will do their best to hide that fact. Not out of modesty or shyness, but out of malice or contempt. Remember that I told you on this very missive a couple of years ago about perception: that it’s important to see the world as it really is, not as how certain individuals want you to see it.

So I’ve been having some trouble picking a word for this year because there were several I could’ve gone with, but I think I found the one that fits.

The word of the year is…“foundation.”

We all have to start somewhere when it comes to improvement. Whether it’s in our environment, our workplace, our nation, or our lives. We all need a solid foundation on which to build something better. Especially in a world where people are trying to bring is down, it’s all the more imperative to reinforce our foundation.

The world that many of us have fought for remains frustratingly out of reach. And I suspect a big part of the anxiety and anger this year was processing that frustration. But the tide is turning. We’ve done work to plant the seeds of the victory that we all desire, but can’t obtain just yet.

There is still work to be done, and there will be many hardships on the road ahead. But take heart in that the work you did this year will make the work to come all the easier. That the lessons you learned in 2025 will pay for themselves in the New Year and beyond.

And there will still be those who seek to make the world worse, but their time is limited and our time is just beginning. So when the bastards get you down, just remember that there’s always another round to come.

Even if the bad guys win today…they won’t win tomorrow.

As always, there is one more good thing that happened this year. But I don’t know what it is, you do. Share your favorite moment(s) of the year, whether it’s here or elsewhere. Remind yourself and your loved ones of all that you’ve done this year, and commit yourselves to the task of all that there is to come.

Happy New Year, friends. I’ll see you in 2026.