Each January, we take a collective breath and reset ourselves. As we throw away old calendars and box up holiday decorations for another year, we often experience a feeling of renewal. A new year offers a blank slate; a fresh start.

And considering the way 2016 went, I think most of us welcome the change. As the year drew to a close, social media was flooded with posts and articles debating where 2016 ranks among the worst years of all time. Why? Political acrimony fueled by the presidential election and Brexit, the deaths of beloved celebrities including David Bowie, Prince, Harper Lee and Muhammad Ali, ongoing mass shootings, record-high global temperatures and much more. If you have the stomach for it, type #worstyearever on Twitter and browse for a few minutes. It won't take long to see plenty of evidence for why 2016 will go down as a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.

That said, it's always important to reflect on the past before overreacting. Consider 1348, when the Black Death wiped out at least one-third of the population of Europe; or 1919, which saw an influenza epidemic that killed half a million Americans and brutal race riots in cities across the U.S. And let's not forget 1943, when the atrocities of the Holocaust neared their peak and famine impacted much of the globe. Yes, perspective is extremely important.