Bad things tend to happen abruptly and these make up most of the “news,” so we’re constantly reminded of them.
For example, a global pandemic, a car crash, ravaging wildfires, acts of violence, among others.
On the other hand, good things are more often marathons than moments. They tend to happen gradually, so they are seldom “newsworthy” and easily fly under our radars.
For example, global average life expectancy increasing across all age groups around the world, the declining price of energy from renewable sources, education inequality falling around the world, antiretroviral therapy saving millions of lives from AIDS, and much more.
While these good things are works in progress, positive forward motion is indeed happening across many marathons.
It’s easy to focus on the bad things: we’re reminded of these all the time in the news and social media. When we choose to focus on the bad things, we’re left with a bleak picture of the state of the world, and risk slowly eroding our mental health with doomscrolling.
However, we can choose instead to do the intentional work to seek out and notice the gradual good and remind ourselves that it does indeed exist in our world in many places. This shift in focus better supports our wellbeing and empowers us to put our energy towards running the marathon of co-creating a better tomorrow.
h/t Ideopunk and Steve Danylchuk
P.S. If you’re interested in books that bring a lens of optimism and possibility to the story of human progress, you might want to check out:
