Happiness Tuesdays

“Kindness and compassion are powerful forces to help inspire, heal, and transform the world.” ― Germany Kent

There’s so much heartbreak and sadness in the world right now. Between wars, severe weather, acts of violence and political turmoil, it can be difficult to get out of bed every morning to face another day. Of course, this bad news is what actual news broadcasts devote most of their time to. Every now and then they might share a heartwarming or humorous story, but for the most part, it’s all depressing.

Despite this intense focus on all of the bad things going on in the world, there are still lots of good things happening too. They just don’t get nearly as much attention. One Reddit user posed an interesting question in the r/AskReddit forum on the website: “What are some GOOD THINGS that are happening in the world that people might not know about?” Other Redditors were quick to deliver the best news they could find. It turns out that there are still a lot of reasons to have hope.

Here are 9 really good things happening in the world right now that often get overshadowed by bad news:

1. Whales are showing up in places they haven’t been seen in years

Elianne Dipp | Pexels

One Reddit user happily shared, “Whales are slowly returning to parts of the ocean they hadn’t been seen in for decades. Nature heals when we give it the chance.” And it’s true — it even left one naturalist in tears. International news outlet Diario AS reported that a blue whale was recently seen in the waters near Massachusetts. Cape Ann Whale Watch recorded the moment and even caught one of their naturalists crying over it, all because blue whales haven’t been seen there in over 20 years.

Humans are known for pushing wildlife out of their homes, and this is no doubt what happened with these blue whales and other species showing similar behavior. But, as the Redditor said, nature can heal. With time, those whales have come back to where they belong and left many people overjoyed in the process.

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2. A Lyme disease vaccine is in development

The Bay Area Lyme Foundation believes that over 620,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year, which is higher than the CDC’s estimation of 476,000. The tick-borne illness can be debilitating and seriously affect patients’ quality of life. But there’s good news on the horizon. As another Redditor pointed out, a vaccine for the disease is in development.

According to Ian Roth from the Mayo Clinic News Network, the vaccine is known as VLA15 and is being developed in Europe. Dr. Gregory A. Poland from the Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic said, “They’ve been through phase 2 testing. Now they’ll do phase 3 clinical testing, which means they go to the FDA, get approval, and they’ll do very large studies.” It could take several years, but it looks like the vaccine will be available someday soon.

3. Scientists have information that could help them treat diseases like Alzheimer’s

Another user was excited to share a study from Nature Neuroscience with everyone. A news release from Science Daily stated, “Researchers for Inserm and the University of Bordeaux at the NeuroCentre Magendie, in collaboration with researchers from the Université de Moncton in Canada, have for the first time succeeded in establishing a causal link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the cognitive symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases.”

The scientists were able to create a tool that made mitochondrial activity increase in the brains of animal test subjects. They believe this could open up pathways for new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. The World Health Organization estimated that 57 million people lived with dementia in 2021. This could change so many lives if it truly does work.

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4. The ozone layer is healing

Several Reddit users shared this good news in the comments on the post. Indeed, a study led by MIT concluded that the Antarctic ozone layer is slowly but surely healing. Study author and Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies and Chemistry, Susan Solomon said, “There’s been a lot of qualitative evidence showing that the Antarctic ozone hole is getting better. This is really the first study that has quantified confidence in the recovery of the ozone hole. The conclusion is, with 95% confidence, it is recovering. Which is awesome. And it shows we can actually solve environmental problems.”

Typically, we just think of humans destroying the environment and making it worse. But, as Solomon said, the ozone layer is proof that environmental issues are not beyond our power or unfixable. When we all work together to make smarter choices, we can make amazing things happen. There’s definitely a lesson to be learned from that.

5. Baltimore is standing up to violence and helping its kids

Agung Pandit Wiguna | Pexels

Mayor Brandon Scott of Baltimore, Maryland, is working hard to change his city. The city had one of the worst gun violence records in the country, but Katie Mettler from the Washington Post said Scott chose to take it on as a “public health threat” when he took office and has made major progress.

As part of his effort to lower crime, Scott has also been investing in his city’s adolescents. According to The Box Richmond, “Mayor Scott backed 42 summer youth camps, 29 literacy programs, extended recreation center hours until 11 p.m. and launched a series of community block parties and open pool days.” Now, children have safe, enjoyable things to do with their time instead of hanging out on the streets and getting into trouble. As a Redditor said, “It looks like kids just needed somewhere safe to go and be kids.”

6. Poverty is on the decline

It may be hard to believe when unemployment and inflation are rising, but the rate of global extreme poverty is actually decreasing. As of 2021, the World Bank measured global extreme poverty as having less than $3.00 in purchasing power each day. Our World in Data, part of the Global Change Data Lab, reported that there are 1.5 billion fewer people living in extreme poverty today than there were in 1990, which is a decrease of about 42.9 million people per year.

It’s no secret that the U.S. economy is not in a good place, and it could be argued that the overall world economy isn’t doing that great either. Lots of people are struggling financially. But, thankfully, the level of extreme poverty in the world is on the decline. That’s huge news.

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7. The number of deaths from cancer has decreased in the U.S.

Thirdman | Pexels

“Cancer” is a word no one wants to hear. Unfortunately, almost 2 million people are diagnosed with the disease each year, according to the CDC. But there is some hope. Cancer can take lives far too young, but it seems to be doing so less frequently. The National Institutes of Health’s 2024 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer revealed that from 2001 to 2022, cancer deaths dropped significantly for both men and women.

This doesn’t make the prospect of a cancer diagnosis for yourself or a loved one any less scary, but it does provide some encouragement. The outlook is not so bleak, and you never know what will happen as medical technologies continue to advance.

8. Organizations like The Ocean Cleanup are helping the environment

It turns out that there’s a lot of good environmental news that can be celebrated. A lot of great organizations and charities are working to make the world a cleaner, healthier place. One person was quick to give a shout-out to The Ocean Cleanup for doing so. The project’s goal is to both clean up plastic in rivers before it ever has the chance to reach the ocean, and to clear out plastic that has already made its way into the ocean.

Plastic in the ocean does more than just hurt our environment and wildlife. The Ocean Cleanup noted that plastics degrade into microplastics, which are eaten by wildlife. After this, they have the potential to “enter the human food chain.” By cleaning plastic out of the ocean, we are protecting our own well-being. As the Reddit user said, “We might yet see the great Pacific garbage patch cleaned up in our lifetimes, along with other floating islands of plastic!”

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9. Costa Rica is running on renewable energy

Pixabay | Pexels

Costa Rica’s story is a pretty incredible one. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the country is only 19,730 square miles. After the country’s civil war ended in the 1940s, they actually abolished their army and invested the money that would have been spent on that into other worthy endeavors, such as environmental conservation. With its National Decarbonization Plan, it is striving to be carbon neutral by the year 2050. To top it all off, over 98% of Costa Rica’s energy is renewable.

Costa Rica is doing things right and setting an example for the rest of the world in the process. Although they are a small country, there’s no reason that the measures they’ve implemented can’t be applied in larger countries as well. The whole world could be a better place if it were willing to follow in Costa Rica’s footsteps.

All of the focus in the world is on the bad news, and there’s a reason for that. People have to keep up with the horrible things happening in the world to have an accurate perspective of what life is really like right now. But that doesn’t mean that everything is all bad. There’s still plenty of good news to celebrate and center ourselves with when the bad feels like it’s all become too much.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.

Faith, Something to Believe in

What is one small, positive act you witnessed or participated in today?