It might seem that every time we check the news or simply go on social media, we keep getting bad news about the world. And that makes us think that at this rate, the world will end very soon.
And since the bad news keeps dominating our feeds, we keep missing out on good news. Probably because good news usually isn't as sensational as news outlets might want it to be. Well, to solve this shortage today, we picked out several good stories that were shared by the r/AskReddit community. After all, sometimes we all need to look at the bright side of things, right?
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David Attenborough’s still healthy
This really should be at the top. He's an amazing person in all that he has done for the climate and the creatures that share this planet with us.
Not significant for any of you, but pretty significant and REALLY good for me:
After telling my family and friends about the abuse I'm experiencing at home, we're secretly making plans to get me the heck out of here! I even have his friends on my side, and he doesn't suspect a thing.
Oh sweetie, I hope it happens soon for you! And yes, it IS significant to others that you are getting out of this situation!
I found out my dog doesn't have cancer. I about cried when I got the news.
If I'm accepted to law school it will be paid for.
I'm from a very poor background with no professional family members and I may break the chains.
Southern Ocean right whales populations are growing at seven percent a year. Bowhead whale populations have tripled and have almost recovered to pre-exploitation levels. Humpback populations in Australia have recovered and are higher than pre-exploitation.
Others, which haven’t recovered like the Atlantic right whale, have stopped their steep decline and hopefully can start the process of population recovery.
Stopping the practice of whaling is…finally…having a positive effect.
CRISPR treatment has just been FDA approved to cure sickle cell disease
[An Eastern Black Rhino was just born](https://biglife.org/program-updates/big-life-news/not-our-imagination), a complete surprise to the rangers who protect the 1,000 remaining in the wild. They are Critically Endangered, the rarest of the subspecies, and this is a monumental occasion.
we also need less people who believes in medicinal properties from endangered animals...
There's a rather effective Malaria vaccine, that started distribution this year.
That's kind of huge.
I was at a diner in a small town in Michigan recently, and there were 2 drag queens eating. No one stared or said anything or looked uncomfortable. Based on everything you see in the news and the fact that I was in a part of Michigan that reliably votes Republican I would've expected a reaction, but everyone was cool with it. Gave me a little hope that maybe people are generally better than we think.
It's almost always just a few troublemakers being especially loud. Best if we don't humor them (or elect them!).
My older cat has completely accepted the new kitten I adopted. I’ve become the third wheel at home and I couldn’t be happier about it. Small positive.
many endangered animal species are on the rebound now such as the bald eagle, humpback whales and schaus swallowtail butterflies due to increased conservational efforts
I’m a teacher and my class is super kind and well behaved for the most part. Gives me a little faith in our future.
My local animal shelter has a food bank for owners who can't afford food for their pets. And I'm sure it's not the only shelter that does it.
My local food bank offers pet food along with their nutrition boxes for people in need.
Global efforts to reforest areas are making a significant impact.
I hope they just don't plant one sort of species? Combining CO2 benefits, and creating new/restoring old habitats for nature?
Sodium-ion batteries might start replacing lithium-ion batteries soon which would be much better for the environment and generally cheaper or more convenient
Researchers have successfully cured HIV in several non-human primates. We’re closer to a real cure!
Locally, certainly in the east midlands, UK, there has been a lot of opportunities take to rewild huge areas of land again. Golf courses, with rolling hills and ponds/ streams are having meadows returned and more trees planted. Farmland that's been mismanaged or untenable and literally being a waste of space is having forest's replanted. I took my 2 year old son to plant some Birch, oak and chestnut trees near to Sherwood forest, along with several thousand others, all done by willing and happy volunteers!
It may not seem much but its becoming much more popular! In the short term we should see Wildflower meadows, birds, bees and woodland animals returning..in the long term, many years after our lifetime there should be huge swathes of cities/ countryside with accessible and diverse woodland and green spaces!
YES!! Golf courses are an insane theft of wild land, and I'm constantly baffled at the sheer amount of them all over the place. Hopefully we can do the same over here in the United States.
There are about 10 to 12,000,000 people in the United States Who Quilt . Most of them belong to Quilt guilds that donate to homeless shelters veteran shelters other types of places where people need blankets. My Quilt Guild donated over 800 this year and we only have 80 people in our guild.
There has been a major breakthrough in meaningfully extending the lifespan of people with ALS using [medicines] that are already on the market and FDA-approved. Their effectiveness at treating ALS was discovered as a direct result of research funded by the massive influx of donations from the various "Ice Bucket Challenges" of the early 2000's.
The state of Illinois has been working to eliminate food deserts, and prevent the loss of independent grocers in small communities.
One example is in the southernmost town in Illinois, Cairo. They opened a grocery store in June. It's a co-op style store, so it's community owned and operated. This after 7 years without access to fresh food.
It's become a life changing service to some members of this community already. While it's been having some struggles, there has been a great deal of support from the community and from surrounding communities, which has me convinced it will pull through the struggles.
If this succeeds long term, it will stand as a model for other communities to utilize in eliminating food access issues.
THIS is one of the ways to help us Americans lose weight! The era of highly processed food is coming to an end!
The days are long and the years are short as a criminal defense attorney. Sometimes I feel discouraged, hopeless, and exhausted. Last year, I took on a military service member pro bono because I sensed he needed my help and needed any hope I could offer him. I convinced a therapist to take on his case pro bono, too. Over the next year, he chose to be sober, attended therapy each week, and really worked to change. This week, I successfully dismissed his case. At his graduation, he told me he once had no hope for future and seriously contemplated [taking his life]. But now, he is hopeful and looking forward for the future. Despite how hard my job is most days, it gave me the strength to keep going.
I work as a mental health therapist.
There is certainly a mental health crisis, AND, there are also a lot of people who are recovering. Most of the people who I see end up recovering and graduating from therapy within a year.
We talk a lot about how bad mental health is. We don't talk a lot about recovery in mental health.
Truthfully I was so happy to be diagnosed with depression; it meant that my suffering wasn't normal, that it wasn't my fault, and that my life could be a lot better. Between therapy and medication, things have become unrecognizably better.
The solar farm that is being installed in my rural area (that will power 10,000 homes at least) is ahead of schedule in construction
Extreme famine has been decreasing significantly the past decade on a global scale
Yes! One of the reasons is the greening of sub-saharan Africa. Increased atmospheric CO2 actually makes plants more drought resistant (because they lose less water though their stomata, because they don't need to keep their stomata open for as long to get all the CO2 that they need to grow). NASA Terra and Aqua satellites have confirmed the increase in vegetation south of the Sahara.
I know this is older news, but maybe people aren't aware of it.
Researchers/scientists have been working with a bacteria to fight cancers. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin has been used with some success to fight bladder cancer.
Edited for clarity.
Edit 2: [here](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9377996/) is a more in depth article I found.
There are now effective treatments, some good enough to be called a 'cure' for many forms of cancer. Worth remembering how much the pharma industry (yes, it's mostly researched and developed by industry, with only limited funds from government and other funding bodies) has done to improve our lives.
I lived in Los Angeles during the eighties, in Van Nuys. I didn’t realize that there was a mountain range to the north of the valley. I drove through in 2013 and there was very little smog. I have been told by people I know who live there that the smog is like ten or twenty percent of what it was in the eighties.
Back in the 80s my wife and I came over the top of those mountains in clear air, then disappeared into a cloud of brown smog that never cleared. Yeah, it's better now.
This graphic: [Yearly Cases of Guinea Worm in Ethiopia](https://cdn.who.int/media/images/default-source/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/figure1_20200525.png?sfvrsn=9288b1a6_1&Status=Master).
I look this up again when I'm having a bad day or humanity starts to seem awful to me. We can be, but we also did this. We reduced cases of a horrifying, agonizingly painful parasitic infection that destroys lives and livelihoods from over 1,000 cases a year to 7 - and that's just in Ethiopia. A lot of hard-working people did some amazingly good work.
I am getting along great with my wife and we are growing as a couple. Most of the world is totally unaware. I also built some speakers I really like. Maybe 2 people know that.
There's a growing optimism about the inevitability of renewable energy. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the most salient point is this: Renewable energy is technology, not a resource. Resources are finite. Technology is ever evolving. If you're familiar with Moore's Law, you know that technology is always advancing to become more powerful and more affordable.
Religion is dropping off more and more.
We need to end this rhetoric that all religion is automatically evil. It's honestly disappointing to see the amount of atheists that just straight up want all religion abolished. Respect others' beliefs, people, it isn't that hard. I will add though that I DO NOT support any religion or religious practice that is harmful to another human being in any way.
My daughter is 11 and in middle school. I always ask her if there are any bullies or like popular people. She always tells me that no one really bully’s and there aren’t really “popular” people that leave everyone else out. When I was in school all anyone ever cared about was being popular and there were tons of bully’s. If what she is saying is true, it gives me hope.
Medicine and treatment for many ailments has progressed through the years improving quality AND quantity of life
I have an inherited genetic disease which i am on medication for, as is my father. My grandfather sadly died due to the disease - they didn't have the medication for it back then, but me and my dad can live normal lives (with regular blood tests). Modern medicine is truly amazing. Also, I have debilitating periods, which I was put on medication for and now they are sooo much better - I mean I used to be vomiting and curling up in a small ball because of the cramps, but now there is barely any pain! It's interesting to think how different things would have been in the past... props to the women who had to deal with that stuff unmedicated
Graphene: The discovery of graphene has opened up new possibilities for creating strong and lightweight materials that can be used in electronics, energy, and other fields.
The US is planning on building high speed rail. The first one is expected to be done by 2028.
Child mortality rates are steadily improving. Same goes with literacy rates, access to clean water, schools, medicine, woman's rights along with most any stat relating to universal quality if life on earth.
"Last year’s U.S. infant mortality rate hit its highest increase in two decades." - PBS News Hour, Nov. 1, 2023. I also believe that women's rights in a number of countries are regressing, but I won't name names because there are multiple countries this is occurring in.
After not seeing one of my regular patrons experiencing homelessness for over a year, he came into the library today in a suit and tie. He now has a car, a job, and an apartment!
That's great! I love hearing these general good news stories, but these individual stories just feel so real!
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After not seeing one of my regular patrons experiencing homelessness for over a year, he came into the library today in a suit and tie. He now has a car, a job, and an apartment!
That's great! I love hearing these general good news stories, but these individual stories just feel so real!
Load More Replies... 
