I'm not naive.

I understand the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and that bad things happen to good people, no matter how much they didn't deserve it.

I know some people are just bad people who will do bad things, and we deserve to know about the bad things happening in our communities and on our planet.

But the negativity that drives up ratings for news networks and causes people to click on links is creating an unfortunate problem that a bit of optimism might help, even if just a little.

The problem is that it's getting increasingly harder to believe in people and the good they can do because good people don't call for attention.

They do what they do for more intrinsic factors.

They don't get talked about as much because although their stories will make people feel good, they won't get people to turn on the television if they weren't already watching.

But a spike in network positivity and the attempt to cover more upbeat topics in addition to the pressing dark news would be enlightening.

We all struggle to believe in humanity as it is, but imagine if we were presented reasons to believe on the daily.

And if we all believed a little bit more in the hope for the future, we might be more inclined to be the good in humanity ourselves.

We so often see stories of tragedy and natural disasters. People want to hear eyewitness accounts and statistics. They want body counts and accounts of the horror of the moment.

I want to see more stories on the efforts of local people to clean up their cities. I want to see more stories on the movements resulting in social justice.

But not the problems the movements are allegedly causing. Sometimes people grasp at any tiny bad thing they can cover before they'll talk about the bright side.

I want to hear a little bit more about the passion of those involved in the movements and the accounts of strangers forging friendships as a result.

And just once, give me a good story, unprompted by tragedy. Remind me of the happy, 80-year-old veteran who goes to the park every day to feed ducks, or of someone who commits their daily life to give the utmost to the underprivileged.

I don't want a two minute "Positively Milwaukee." I want my positivity dispersed throughout the cold harsh realities of the world we live in.

I don't want to have to dig around to find a smile. I want positive news more easily accessible.

Because call me young and stupid, call me naive or unrealistic. Call me crazy, but I think that if we projected the good a little bit more, we could make the world a little bit of a better place.

We all need reminders of why we should contribute kindness, and why, although it may be one of the riskiest things we could ever do, placing our trust in someone else will not always damage us.

Give me the bad and the ugly, but also give me the good.