I had a recent conversation with a young woman about being happy. She claimed that society and the world in general is so awful now it wasn’t possible to find anymore. She could list more than a dozen things wrong or unfair, probably more if I had let her go on. I stopped her in the middle of her tirade.

“I don’t disagree about the things you’ve pointed out, but there is also a lot of good in the world too.”

She didn’t even considered my words, going right back to the many complaints she thought cancelled out any good. I wish her well but I worry about her mental health. A constant focus on the negative in our life drains our capacity to cope with the many challenges we face. It is better to put your energy into seeing the good. Trust me—the bad doesn’t need your constant focus to thrive. You, on the other hand, won’t survive if all you see is doom and gloom around you.