Cheer up. The news cycle and daily doomscroll can get you down, convincing you that the world is on a collision course with a disaster and there's changing our trajectory. But the truth is, by most metrics, people are better off than ever.

There's still war, famine and disease and plenty more work to do, and the world's far from perfect, but we're actually getting better overall by most human development metrics. And there's plenty of heartwarming, uplifting reasons to feel good. You're allowed to feel good.