As Christmas wings toward us, we have so much to be grateful for – have we not? This has been a year of achievements and miracles, a backward glance giving us the kind of lift many need.

First, we are still here, getting up each morning with a new dawn to greet us, which means a new chance to positively affect others, discover or affirm a new purpose, and make something of the day, whether building, teaching, learning, lifting, writing, painting, traveling or just appreciating.

Second, the year has produced medical and scientific breakthroughs, many lost in the swirl, not heralded in the deafening clatter-trap of politics, but worth knowing about.

For example, on the medical front, new antibiotics were approved this year to address so-called “superbugs,” until recently eroding antibiotic effectiveness. One, called Orlynvah, addresses tough UTI infections. Advances have also been made against autoimmune diseases. 

Likewise, a new drug for treating schizophrenia has been approved, called Cobenfy, first advance of this kind since the 1950s. Since 20 million have it, and a third are untreated, this is a breakthrough.

Two medications for rare forms of dementia, which can rapidly shorten life, were found and widely made available, Miplyffa and Aqneursa, while new drugs for obesity, diabetes, and hot flashes were pioneered and gained wider use.

On the purely scientific front, 2024 saw advances in partial physics, lasers, miniaturization, artificial intelligence, robotics,  information security, and energy efficiency – and we got our first samples from the far side of the moon.

Closer to home, rocketry, supersonic aircraft, and advances in everything from communications to travel, such as NASA’s new X-59 supersonic aircraft, which could revolutionize fast travel without sonic booms, and then add in innovative wellness trackers and convenience advances, like jet oral teeth cleaning (sidelining dental floss), personalized bed temperature control, plus advances in cars, recreation and battery technology.

Third, shifting gears, in the athletic world, America has again had a banner year. At the Paris Olympics, the US won the most medals for the fourth consecutive Olympics, while across other world championships, the US topped out in swimming, ice skating, weightlifting, and other titles.

Fourth, on the intellectual front, the US this year won two new Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, three in Economics, one in Physics, and two in Medicine, punctuating the US dominance in the prizes, with 71 percent of all ever awarded.

Perhaps more closely felt, more personal, and more immediate, this has been a year of incredible ups and downs in politics – with the Democrat ticket of Biden-Harris suddenly sidelined by their own party, Harris then lofted as the presidential nominee, despite no primary votes for that role.

Her campaign then suffered a stunning moment of uplift, followed by a downdraft and crash of epic proportions, losing all seven swing states to Donald Trump.

Trump, meantime, is the man of the century so far, for dozens of reasons, from surviving two assassination attempts and half a dozen politically motivated lawsuits (now dissolved or dismissed) to reordering global perceptions of the US even before reclaiming the White House, a stunning win – support of all demographics – and only the second comeback for a president with a term between his first and second (Grover Cleveland the other).

So, as we look back over 2024, we can bemoan stumbles by government, high inflation and interest, left-leaning cultural confusion, disorientation, and a departure from common sense recently, or we can do the reverse – look forward with gratitude, renewed hope, deep appreciation for this incredible nation we call “home,” our America, land of the free, home of the brave, and the site of some true miracles this year, not the least being a chance to regain our compass in 2025!

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.