If we turn on the news we're more than likely to hear horror stories about death and destruction; misery and murderous machinations. And sadly, these things do happen. 

But there's also no doubt many wonderful things happen; good people do good things all the time, but unfortunately we don't hear as much about them. I'm not in any way suggesting we live in a "perfect" world, but I want to invite you to think how we may well be living in a wonderful world; far more marvelous and inspiring than many realise.

If, for example, you head on over to a fabulous website called Our World in Data you might be surprised to learn that on pretty much every measure, the world is a better place now than it has been previously. 

There are significantly fewer deaths by war; more people living in democracy; income inequality has been reduced; poverty is declining faster than at any other time in history; life expectancy and health inequality have massively decreased; and child mortality is markedly down. 

So why do we feel so afraid and upset when we should be satisfied and optimistic? 

First and foremost, media tends to focus more on what's going wrong. I don't blame them for this, it's just the way it is. But we need to recognise it and understand these things are massively over-represented. 

If we're going to be realistic about the world, then let's consider good news just as much as we consume bad news. Thankfully, the internet makes this a lot easier to do. 

We know happy people focus more on what they have and less on what they don't, on what's going well and less on what's not. Feeling happier, they're also more altruistic, more generous, more collaborative. So focusing more on the good in the world will ultimately make for more good in the world!

Dr Tim Sharp