In lieu of recent events, I’d like us all to take a moment to appreciate the positive aspects of our lives.

Especially in the past few months, I’ve noticed an influx of negative media coverage.  No matter what media outlet I turn to, it seems as though our world is at the brink of going up in flames.

We’ve all heard about the unfortunate rise of sexual assault, and the tragic school shooting in Florida.

Some of the top headlines on CNN include, “Florida school shooting aftermath,” “Missouri governor indicted over nude picture,” “Package sent to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle treated as a racist hate crime,” “Average mortgage just jumped to highest rate since April 2014.”

It’s unfortunate that I have become almost numb to these headlines.  They don’t phase me as much as I’d expect them too, or as much as they used to.

When I see a notification for another article about another woman who’s been sexually assaulted, I am obviously upset, but by no means am I surprised.

At times, at least for me, the world we live in seems like it’s full of nothing but suffering and hate.

Recently I have begun to question why the media only portrays bad news. Although I understand how the negative news is more memorable and oftentimes more emotionally impactful, I still believe that it can’t be healthy for us to be solely immersed in these tragic events.

It makes me disregard the immense amount of good in the world.

It could be because journalists are more drawn to bad news because sudden disaster is more compelling than slow improvements.  Although this may be the case, it is still equally as important to take good news into account.

Each one of us should take time out of our day to name at least one good thing that has happened to us.

Not only does this help put into perspective that nothing is really as bad as it may seem, but it also is a great exercise in appreciating what we do have.

On the same note, we also have to take into account how out of these tragic events a surprising amount of good has prevailed.

As an illustration, if there was no shooting in Florida there would also be no March for Our Lives.  The march is part of a movement initiated by survivors of the shooting to protest for the end of school shootings, and keep regulations on gun laws.

This event has started a powerful movement of students just like us protesting for one common goal.

On that note, I’d like the tone of this article to be nothing but positive from here on.  Despite of all of the horrific events recently, there has also been a lot of good that no one seems to talk about.

Even though it may be easier to recollect the worst parts of my day, acknowledging the highlights takes away the spotlight from the negativity.   

It is common knowledge that doing good really does make you feel good.

Those of us who are taking or have taken psychology have probably experienced taking class time to do random acts of kindness.

Seeing my actions positively effect another person’s day is an irreplaceable feeling.  There’s a mutual benefit from doing good for others.  I would even argue that it is more rewarding to be the one spreading positivity than to be receiving it.

The emotions of others seem to have a domino effect on the mood of those around them.  Interacting with someone with an extremely positive attitude can leave a long lasting impact on how we proceed throughout the rest of our day.  The opposite holds true as well, as it is much easier to bring one’s mood down than it is to bring it up.

Although we do not have control over the tragedies that go on in our world, we do have control over what we do about them, and how we deal with it.