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The world can seem like a messed up place. Especially if we look at it through the mainstream media. But it can also be beautiful. We just need to remind ourselves of that every once in a while.

Enter the Instagram account 'Good News Dog.' It regularly fetches uplifting moments from around the globe for the 1.4 million people that follow it, giving them one reason to smile after another.

Think of it as a good boy who gets up early in the morning to bring you the newspaper. Only instead of your coffee table, the fella leaves it on your social media feed. And instead of the fearmongering articles, there's a picture of a woman who just knit a bag of hats for a shelter. Or another one showing thousands of Berliners greeting Ukrainian refugees with signs, offering a place to stay.

Continue scrolling to explore this wholesome corner of the internet through Bored Panda's hand-picked selection of its best posts.

More info: Instagram

#1

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KJ
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Small acts of kindness can go a long way, we never know when someone could use a wee boost.

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#2

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Today a lady and her husband came into our Home Depot and told us that the insurance company might not pay for their little boy’s walker, so they went on the internet and found plans to make one out of PVC pipe. My store manager heard about this and went over to them and said, "We got this."

We started putting it together and told the family to go and enjoy ice cream and come back in an hour. Other associates started jumping in and when the family came back it was done. Everyone was crying to see Logan walk around with the biggest smile on his face.

When the family tried to pay us, we said "No way, this one is on us." 

What a wonderful act of kindness! 

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Fat Harry
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a world we live in where someone in the wealthiest country on Earth can't get a piece of medical equipment for their child because insurance won't cover it. Healthcare should be a right.

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Pages like 'Good News Dog' are needed more than you might think. "Unfortunately, a lot of the news we consume today isn’t so much reporting as it is a way of keeping people addicted to the news cycle," said licensed psychologist Logan Jones, PsyD.

Since sensational headlines get more attention, Jones says media outlets often end up focusing on disaster reporting—and rarely any positive news.

"Consuming too much of this kind of news, whether actively or passively, can be very toxic, and what you hear has an impact on your mood."

Annie Miller, MSW, LCSW-C, LICSW, explains the process like this: when we experience a threat, our brain activates the fight or flight response, and the systems in our body react accordingly.

Consuming the news can activate the sympathetic nervous system, which causes our body to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Then, when a crisis is happening, and we are experiencing this stress response more frequently, Miller says physical symptoms may arise.

#6

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Sherilynne DeMaio
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And I see you are an LCSW. You have used your hardship to grow compassion instead of bitterness. All the best to you, good sir.

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#7

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Lakota Wolf
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She is a beautiful bride now and I know she was in 1952 as well!

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This emotional toll and negative effect on the psyche was demonstrated in a study that found people who watched negative material, as compared to those who watched positive or neutral material, showed an increase in both anxious and sad moods after just 14 minutes of viewing television news bulletins and programs.

In addition to an increase in anxious and sad moods, the researchers also found the results to be consistent with the theories of worry that implicate a negative mood as a causal factor in facilitating worrisome thoughts.

#11

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Hseed
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That second sentence was completely unnecessary. You can't judge a country for its past. All countries including mine have embarrassing moments in history. We can't tag Germans as nazis, we can't tag Spain (where I live) with dictatorship and terrorism, and so on. And you can't say polish people are doing better than they did. Different times, different people. Congrats for today's job, Poles. Better think twice what you write, dude.

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There's even a word for the act of obsessively reading bad news despite the onset of anxiety It's called doomscrolling and even thought it's quite new, research stretching back for decades has long warned that consuming too much negative news can take its toll.

Studies have linked poor mental health to news exposure during negative and traumatic events; the more news a person consumes during and after these events, the more likely they are to suffer from depression, stress and anxiety. For example, there's a study that surveyed 4,675 Americans in the weeks following the Boston Marathon bombings and collected data on how much media they consumed. Participants who engaged with more than six hours of media coverage per day were nine times more likely to also experience symptoms of high acute stress than those who only watched a minimal amount of news.

#15

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#17

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KJ
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scumbag parents having an issue with someone getting an education, good on the president.

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2020 was exceptionally bad. "We've had so much news from COVID-19 and the economic breakdown to the reckoning with racial injustice combined with hurricanes and firestorms," said Roxane Cohen Silver, a research psychologist at the University of California, Irvine. "It's clear the stress of the election has added to all this."

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"So much of it is open-ended and uncertain at the moment," Graham Davey, an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom added. "That alone is something that people find extraordinarily stressful."

#18

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Friday
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope that they kept in touch (the owners) to arrange future pup play dates ❤️

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Anyone-for-tea?
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don’t forget it’s not just the elderly that are lonely, that younger person who is unexpectedly chatty might be because you’re the only person they’ve spoken to all day, and your kindness makes their day too!

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El Dee
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People get frustrated by people doing this but they don't realise why folks do it. During the first lockdown I spent ten weeks where I had no contact with another living thing. People used to go to local shops where everyone knew each other, not so anymore. We need to talk to each other more..

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Britches are for everyone
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why do I have to be lonely and/or elderly to have a chat checkout? This sounds great, I think I would choose that line every time.

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Olivia Lisbon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, you got it right, it’s called a kletskassa (chat checkout), it doesn’t specify any age restrictions. Come on over and try it, there’s a Jumbo ten minutes away :)

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LavenderAxolotl
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This should be an international addition - so many people need this kind of outlet

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Whodathunkit
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg....this would be great for my mother! She tells her life story to everyone she meets!

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Mayrene Chester
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Contrast to the German ones where I can't keep up bagging my groceries and paying at the same time!

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Emmy Dumont
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I work for a company's customer service and every Christmas Eve we have clients calling just so they have someone to talk with. I never liked working on these days cause I wanna be with my family. But when I did I always always take time to talk to the lonely people and every time it breaks my heart.

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Tabitha Stella
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I went to move my laundry in my apartments laundry room the other day and a woman just started talking to me so I stood there for close to an hour chatting with her even though I had other things to do. At the end of the conversation she told me she was going through chemo and I was the only person she's visited with for a couple weeks other than her doctor. Sometimes people just need a little human interaction. This is such a kind idea.

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KatieCoxie
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so needed. My mum would love this. Since being widowed she loves to chat with people when she gets out but most won't give her the time of day. She's such a sweet little soul. Truly breaks my heart.

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lenka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our local supermarket has one. They even employ especially social people to work that register. It's gezelig :-)

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Iampenny
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Dutch are truly amazing, they treat their elderly with so much respect, and have fantastic systems in place, such as child day care centres in nursing homes. The elderly are kept active and can enjoy playing with the children, while the children learn so much from the elderly, they benefit mutually from each other, also things like dementia village, where people with dementia, live in a secure village, where they can wander around freely and don't realise that they are in a nursing home type situation https://hogeweyk.dementiavillage.com/

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lenka
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother in law is moving into a dementia village in a few months. We are really sad, but also very thankful for the village set up. She is very social so she will be happy and well cared for there.

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#21

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Deux
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If only there were more 14 year olds doing this than getting hooked into a life of crime. Create bowties, not heartache and trauma.

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Psychologists refer to it as an "intolerance of uncertainty," and, unfortunately, it's a vicious cycle. You find listening to the news stressful and anxiety-provoking but can't stop doing it because you feel the need to find out what on earth is going on.

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But there are things that people can do to protect their mental health from the potentially damaging effects of obsessively consuming news. "It's important to be informed but we don't want you to be doomscrolling," said Judith Andersen, a health psychologist at the University of Toronto in Canada.

"Check the news just once a day, and I don't think it's best to check in the morning because it clouds the rest of your day." She also recommends confining yourself to well-established and credible news sources to avoid the risk of over-hyped or even misleading content.

#26

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Mozzarella
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never let our elderly feel lonely. They are treasures and need to be treated like so

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Monday
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would be quite the plot twist if everyone else skipped the hike on purpose as an attempt at matchmaking because web dev guy liked her.

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But those times that you do sit down to get up to speed with the world around you, Davey recommends that you actually read articles in full, rather than simply checking out the headlines. "Headlines are usually dramatized, and you need more context than that," he explained.

Or simply fire up 'Good News Dog!'

#30

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Lakota Wolf
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This hits home. Hopefully my kitten with FIP will be declared cured of this normally-fatal disease in two weeks (treatment is 84 days of medication injections) - and he’s definitely getting some delish foods and a party :D I’m so glad this pupper made it too!

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#31

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Friday
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How can anyone abandon their senior baby? Congratulations on your promotion, have a happy life sweetheart ❤️

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#32

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Friday
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This beautiful gesture will likely become his most valued possession ❤️

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#38

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Sherilynne DeMaio
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Americans should take a lesson from this example. This is how to offer comfort to strangers in peril.

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#39

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Mozzarella
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Woohooooooooooooooo. If we saw things the way that 6 year olds did, the world would be a better place.

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#43

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Lakota Wolf
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My grandmas are both long gone :( I will help protecc OP’s grandma, as both of mine would want me to XD

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#46

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Brendan Roberts
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It doesn't matter if they're biological or not, a good mama will take in any infants.

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kristina law
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While this is an awesome little story, I have seen it on BP probably over 10 times now lol

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Note: this post originally had 81 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.