Think back to your earliest memory: you're two years old without a care in the world, just petting your dog or exploring the "enormous" world that is your home. Or maybe you're four and just beginning kindergarten where the only thing you should be concerned with is what crayon you're going to use to finish the work of art in your coloring book. Then you're six and heading off to first grade—homework and tests are your concerns—maybe karate. Progress to age nine, when "cooties" and late-night ghost stories are your worst fears.

It was much simpler times back then, nothing to worry about. The news? What of it? You were more concerned with what was happening in SpongeBob's life in Bikini Bottom. There was nothing to fear. Innocence—and ignorance—truly were bliss.

The world you used to know was a cheerful one. Everyone smiled at you and most always had something nice to say. Your mother or father tucked you in at night or read you a bedtime story. You didn't really observe the negative aspects; you were simply a happy-go-lucky kid...or maybe you just weren't exposed to it...who knows. Despite it, only your immediate surroundings were of your interest, nothing farther than your backyard. Iran? That was nothing more than a sentence or the beginning of one..."I ran...during recess yesterday."

But, alas, with growing up you begin to realize more and more about your surroundings as well as what actually goes on in the world around you...whether you want to know about it or not. The wool is slowly pulled back from shading your eyes. You may not watch or read the news at all, but you'll have a general knowledge about current things such as who's winning in the upcoming election, the various wars in the Middle East, who won an Oscar or Grammy and random "doom and gloom" tidbits from around the globe.

You notice more of the negative and blot out the positive. When you were young, everyone was always your biggest fan, always saying "you can!" in regards to your dreams...but nowadays, being a dreamer is looked down upon. More people are eager to tell you "no, you can't" and provide reasons to support their views as to why you can't and won't...because dreams are just that: dreams. The realists tend to outweigh the dreamers. What happened to all of the support? The positivity that overflowed around you as a child? As years progress, the negativity sets in. But why? Simply because people feed off of negativeness. Just look at any newscast or newspaper headline. Typically, it's not something cheerful and "happy." No, it tends to revolve around negativity: violence, human trafficking, wars, terrorism, slander, scandals, theft, hatred. Those types of stories are far more interesting, yes, but as more and more negativity is put into the metaphorical spotlight, that triggers another mind to believe that if he does something equally as terrible, if not worse, then he too could get that headline, thus creating a sequence of more terrible deeds; a chain reaction, rather.

This world is changing day by day, hour by hour, second by second. It's a pretty dark place out there, nowadays. There's so much more to worry about now that we're older and understand the world better. But who's to say the world has to stay this way? Who's to say we have to let the negativeness of the media dictate our outlooks on the world or even life as whole? The only way to counteract the negative is with a positive. Yes, the world we live in is pretty blah, but that can change. And it all starts with one person.

It's time to get back the world we used to know.