The seven tweets that inspired Bill Gates in 2017, plus a photo of him kissing a seal

The end of the year can often prompt a dejected reflection on the past 12 months, with people lamenting the tragedies, deaths, or just generally awful things that happened since January.

But not for Bill Gates! No, the perpetually cheery billionaire, fresh from recommending his best books for the year, has unleashed a flurry of positivity on the traditionally cynical Twitter universe, acknowledging that while 2017 may have been a “really tough year“, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

1/ There’s no denying that 2017 was a really tough year… but it also delivered some amazing moments of hope and progress. Here are some inspiring tweets that you may have missed…

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

What follows is some moments Gates happened across on Twitter that plucked at his heartstrings and stoked the fires of inspiration. And a photo of him kissing a seal.

2/ On May 18, 2017, Edwardo Sanchez tweeted that he was the first person in his family to graduate from college. Congratulations, Edwardo! https://t.co/V5uzWQAc75

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

3/ “Toilet: A Love Story,” a Bollywood romance about a newlywed couple, educated audiences about India’s sanitation challenge. https://t.co/TIRRmcamLy

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

4/ In June, the WHO certified that Bhutan and Maldives had eliminated measles. https://t.co/WdhAHIhs7A

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

Gates’ fourth tweet falls in line with his own ongoing mission to eradicate all cases of Polio worldwide, something he has been fighting for through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2006. Thanks in large part to their efforts, incidents of polio today are down 99% since 1988.

5 /2017 World Food Prize winner @akin_adesina will use his prize money to establish a fund to provide grants to African youth involved in agriculture. https://t.co/20S5KznAhX

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

6/ The New York Times reported that doing good for others helps those who give as well as those who receive. https://t.co/dWMpvXXtpP

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

Finally, Gates’ last tweet focuses on a phenomenon that swept through some schools earlier this year, which invited kids to share photos of themselves reading books in “extreme” locations. Gates calls it a “new sport” in his tweet, and posted a photo of himself joining in .. kissing a seal.

8/ Here’s my own extreme submission to the challenge. #extremereading pic.twitter.com/z6Uk1cM5Cq

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) December 19, 2017

So if there’s one thing to take away from 2017, it’s that not everything is dark — unless that thing is the pelt of a common seal. Gates wraps it all up in one final tweet to round out his year.

“These tweets made me feel better about 2017 and more optimistic about the new year. I hope they make you feel more hopeful, too,” he said.

“What tweets inspired you this year?”

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and iTunes.