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80-Year-old Man Rescues Drowning Boy Only to Find Out That He Saved the Kid’s Father 30 Years Earlier

By
McKinley Corbley
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When an elderly man came to the rescue of a drowning boy earlier this week, his life-saving efforts revealed a surprising connection between the two of them.

80-year-old Xu Weifang had been resting in his Zhutang home when he heard someone crying for help from the river.

He and his wife rushed outside only to find an 8-year-old boy struggling to keep his head above the water. The youngster had been playing with his grandmother near the riverside when he accidentally fell in.

WATCH: Despite Local Racial Tension, Good Samaritan Leaps Into Action to Rescue Cop From Smoking Car

Now, Xu is not as fit as he used to be. According to Jiangsu Television, the senior sustained some long-term injuries after he fell down a set of stairs two years ago – but that didn’t stop him from leaping into action.

Without hesitating, Xu jumped into the river and pulled the boy to safety.

When Xu later stopped by the hospital to make sure that the boy was okay, he discovered that he knew the boy’s father as well.

RELATED: Quick-Thinking Gas Station Cashier Saves Kidnapping Victim by Locking Her in the Store’s Bathroom

That’s because Xu had rescued the man from drowning in the very same river 30 years ago.

The father and son are not the only people who the spry senior has rescued from the river, either – he has saved three other drowning people from the water since he moved into his home, and his wife has saved one.

Though he is humble about his riverside rescues, Xu admits that his old age might soon prevent him from playing the hero in the future.

Save Your Friends From Negativity And Share The Good News – Featured representative photo by Haha169, CC

Europe May Push Cell Phone Companies to Use the Same Standardized Charger

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Good News Network
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Have you ever been at a friend’s house with a dying cell phone only to find out that they don’t have the right kind of charger to save your struggling battery? Well, that may soon be a thing of the past in Europe.

The European Union has spent almost a decade trying to nudge cell phone manufacturers into using the same standardized charger. Since their efforts have been unsuccessful thus far, they may be implementing legislation that will put an end to the frustrating tech situation.

The EU isn’t just pushing the issue because it’s an inconvenience to consumers – their studies indicate that over 51,000 tons of electronic waste end up in landfills every year as a result of old and incompatible chargers.

Due to increasing pressure from lawmakers, a dozen cell phone manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung, and Nokia all signed a memorandum of understanding in 2009 agreeing to adopt the same micro-USB charger. When the memorandum expired in 2012, however, several of these companies signed their own letters of intent in contradiction to the agreement.

RELATED: US Supreme Court Rules That Police Will Need a Warrant for Cell Phone Location Data

Annoyed by the lack of cooperation, EU regulators are now conducting studies on whether or not further action should be taken to address the issue. If studies indicate that legislation should be necessary, then lawmakers will likely bring an end to the wasteful disagreement.

“Given the unsatisfactory progress with this voluntary approach, the Commission will shortly launch an impact assessment study to evaluate costs and benefits of different other options,” said Margrethe Vestager, according to Reuters.

Power Up With Positivity And Share The Good News With Your Friends

Guy Knocked On Doors So He Could Ask People for Advice On Amassing Wealth – Then a Door Opened

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Good News Network
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When this young man wanted new opportunities, he literally went knocking on people’s door until one opened for him.

Reggie Nelson wanted to stand out amongst the crowd and take charge of his own life, so he came up with the perfect strategy: he went to the wealthiest neighborhood in London, knocked on the doors, and asked the occupants for advice and tips on how they amassed their wealth.

His door-to-door mission eventually led him to the home of Quintin Price, the head of Alpha Strategies at the Black Rock equity firm.

Price was struck by the young man’s motivation, so he invited Nelson inside and offered to mentor him at the firm.

RELATED: Immigrant Endures Misery, But Stays Positive Until a Brilliant Idea Unlocks the American Dream

Nelson was so excited for the job, he showed up an hour early the very next day. Two weeks later, Price offered him an internship with the company.

Of the 9,000 applicants for the position, only 115 got in, and 3 of them were black – Nelson was one of them.

Since landing the life-changing opportunity, Nelson has graduated from Kensington University, climbed the corporate ladder at his new firm, and given lectures on how young people can get into the financial sector.

(WATCH the interview below)

Don’t Knock The Good News: Share With Your Friends – Photo by BBC News

“The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” – Steven Pressfield

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” – Steven Pressfield

Photo: California Channel Islands, by Bryan Van Wagner

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Minutes After Saying ‘I Do’, Hero Groom Jumps Into the Ocean to Save Drowning Teen

By
McKinley Corbley
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Zac Edwards’s wedding day was a pretty significant event, but not just because he got to marry the love of his life – it was also because he ended up saving the life of a teenager minutes after saying “I do”.

The 37-year-old Coast Guard and his wife Cindy had just tied the knot on the sands of Shell Beach, Alabama last week when disaster struck.

As they were posing for wedding photos, they heard someone screaming for help.

18-year-old Jamel Robinson was trapped in a rip tide 50 yards out from the seashore, and it was clear that he was struggling to stay afloat. Though there were lifeguards on duty at the time, they were busy saving other drowning swimmers from the current.

LOOK: Cyclist Carries Injured Stray Dog to Safety On His Back, Then Bumps into a Stranger Who Instantly Adopts it

Cindy immediately urged her newly-wed husband to save the boy. Zac took off his wedding shirt and was about to take off his pants before his wife said there was no time – so without further delay, he took off down the beach.

Before he plunged into the surf, he grabbed a boogie board from some beachgoers and made his way out to the teen. Zac helped the boy onto the board and started helping him back to shore. As they continued swimming, however, the groom started to get tired – and slightly panicked.

“I eventually reached him but we were about half a football field away from the shore. He just kept saying ‘I can’t breathe’,” said Edwards, according to The Daily Mail. “The current was really strong and it was stopping us coming in any further… The pants were making it hard to kick too.”

RELATED: Quick-Thinking Gas Station Cashier Saves Kidnapping Victim by Locking Her in the Store’s Bathroom

Thankfully, a team of rescuers arrived by jet ski and pulled Zac and Jamel out of the water.

“I didn’t really take in the gravity of the situation until I laid down that night. Afterwards, my hands were shaking but the adrenaline was just pumping,” says Zac.

Jamel was shaken, but unharmed by the incident, and he was able to start his senior year of high school this week. He and his mother thanked Zac for the rescue, but the groom says that it was all in a (wedding) day’s work.

(WATCH the interview below)

Pass On This Positively Amazing Rescue Story To Your Friends – Photo by Dream Beach Weddings, LLC

This Guy Has the Happiest Job in the World: Calling Lotto Winners and Telling Them They’re Millionaires

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Good News Network
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A lot of people might have different answers for what qualifies as “the best job in the world,” but Matt Hart is positive that he is working one of them.

That’s because it’s Hart’s job to call lottery winners and tell them that they’ve won millions of dollars.

Hart works for The Lott, which is Australia’s largest lottery operator. Every day, he goes into a soundproof room and calls lotto winners so he can explain how they have beaten the odds and won the draw.

In a recent interview with ABC Radio Brisbane, Hart explains how he typically makes about 700 phone calls in a year. Typically, the prizes average $10,000, but the highest win that he has ever called in was $50 million – and the winner simply said that he didn’t know whether to “laugh or cry or hug his wife.”

WATCH: Woman Wins $1,000 Weekly Lotto Payout – and Proves Money Can Buy Happiness By Giving It All Away

Some people are too stunned to speak; others can’t help but scream with delight; and many of the people on the other end of the line can’t believe the good news. Hart says that during his first ever phone call, the winner threatened to call the police before hanging up on him. When the winner finally found out it was legitimate, however, they were apparently “really apologetic.”

Despite the rocky start, Hart still insists that he has the happiest job in the country, and he “still gets butterflies” before making phone calls.

“You feel like a cross between the Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny when delivering the prize money,” Hart told VICE. “When you think about it, it’s quite surreal that we just interrupt someone’s life, every morning, to deliver the news that they’ve won a top prize and they’re now a millionaire or multi-millionaire.

WATCH: Man Living in a Shack is Saved By His ‘Worthless’ Blanket That Spurs $1.5 Million Bidding War

“We have this little insight into their lives—it’s a real emotional thing for many people, we hear about their hopes and dreams of what they’d always thought they’d do with a million-dollar win,” he adds.

Hart also says that people don’t usually blow all their winnings within the first year, as it is so commonly believed. In fact, people have told him some pretty surprising intentions after receiving the fortune; one winner simply said that he was excited to get a haircut, while another said that he wanted to quit his job and become a Buddhist monk. More commonly, people talk about how they want to pay for their parents’ retirement or help their kids financially.

“We stay in touch with the winners for a couple of months and sometimes years after they win to see what the experience was like,” Hart told ABC. “There is a misconception that people blow it all in one year, but many people say to us, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t blow it, I’ll be responsible’.”

Spread The Good And Pass On This Fascinating Story To Your Friends

First Major US City to Make Prison Phone Calls Free

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Good News Network
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New York City is about to become the first major US city to offer free phone calls from all of their correctional facilities.

The bill, which was approved by the New York City Council and signed by Mayor de Blasio this week, will save inmates and their families an estimated $8 million per year in phone calls.

“Unfortunately, the city has been profiting from some of the poorest and most vulnerable New Yorkers for years,” Corey Johnson, City Council speaker and sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “Thankfully, that is now going to stop.”

Currently, phone calls from correctional facilities cost 50 cents per calls, plus an additional 5 cents per minute and additional fees for depositing funds. A 15-minute conversation can cost anywhere from $10 to $17 – and according to the New York Times, there are about 26,000 calls made from city prisons every day, which generate thousands of dollars in revenue for a private company.

MORE: More Dutch Prisons to Close Due to Staggeringly Low Crime Rates

Once the measure goes into full effect in 270 days, anyone being held in a prison or jail will be able to call their families and lawyers free of charge.

The measure is especially beneficial for inmates because studies show that maintaining contact with friends and families decreases the likelihood of recidivism and increases chances of employment after release. Children who maintain close bonds with incarcerated parents are also shown to display reduced rates of delinquency and behavioral problems.

Be Sure And Share The Good News With Your Friends – Representative photo LeylanR, CC

Two ‘Miracle’ Cats Are Finally Found in Rubble Three Weeks After House Exploded

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Good News Network
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These two “miracle” cats have been found safe and sound three weeks after their home exploded.

Ashley Nadeau’s house in Topeka, Kansas blew up after heavy storms caused a gas leak and a downed utility line. By the time firefighters arrived, the house was “pretty much destroyed”.

Luckily, Nadeau and her 9-month-old daughter were not home at the time, but she has spent the last three weeks frantically worrying about her two cats, Kunimitsu and Mr. Tibbs.

Then, on Tuesday, Kunimitsu was found hiding in a pipe. Apart from her singed fur and ears, she seems “all in one piece.”

RELATED: Search for Cat Litter Led Woman to Fateful Encounter With Stranger Who Adopted Her Beloved Persian

“It’s a miracle,” Nadeau wrote on Facebook, according to the Topeka Capitol-Journal. “I’ve been having dreams every night that I found her.”

The very next day, Nadeau and her friend spent hours sifting through the rubble of the house until they finally found Mr. Tibbs amongst the debris.

“Shout out to the one person in the world I knew I could call to help me dig through a dangerous pile of rubble to rescue a cat,” wrote Nadeau.

If you’d like to help Nadeau and her daughter recover from the incident, you can donate to the GoFundMe that was created for the family.

Share This Pawesome Rescue Story With Your Friends – Photos by Ashley Nadeau

“Happiness is like a butterfly, which, when you pursue it is always beyond your grasp, but, which, when you sit down may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Happiness is like a butterfly, which, when you pursue it is always beyond your grasp, but, which, when you sit down may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

Teens Singing On the Sidewalk Get to Perform With Cyndi Lauper After Chance Encounter

By
McKinley Corbley
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Two talented siblings went from busking on street corners to performing for a stadium full of people, thanks to a famous singer who happened to be walking by at the right time.

14-year-old Mya Worley and her 13-year-old brother Ronald Jr. were playing music at an intersection in Charlotte, North Carolina last week when two female pedestrians stopped to listen.

The two women had been leaving a local restaurant when they heard Mya was singing a cover of Corinne Bailey Rae while her brother played keyboard. One of the women said: “We gotta get them to play tomorrow.”

The other woman then approached the children’s father, Ronald Sr., introduced herself as Cyndi Lauper’s manager, and asked if his children would be interested in playing a song with Lauper at the Spectrum Center the following day. Not only that, the manager wanted the Worley kids to sing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” – which is one of Lauper’s most popular songs.

RELATED: Watch Neil Diamond Come Out of Retirement to Serenade Exhausted Firefighters

“I saw this little lady also standing there — she was kind of in disguise, almost — but actually I saw her face, and I realized that it was Cyndi Lauper,” Ronald Sr. told the Charlotte Observer. “She really didn’t want anybody to know that it was her, so she gave me a ‘shh’ and put a finger over her mouth.”

The kids excitedly agreed, and the very next day, they were welcomed backstage before the show. The Worleys got to have dinner with the backing band; Mya got to rehearse with Lauper; and when the show finally got started, they got to watch the show from VIP seats.

When it came time for Mya and Ronald Jr. to perform, Lauper introduced the youngsters to the audience and told the crowd about how she found them on the sidewalk. Then, when she noticed that Mya was looking a little nervous, the pop star turned to face her new friend and said: “Hell’s bells, girl. You’ve got so much beauty in your voice.”

MORE: Dolly Parton Quietly Gives Away 100 Millionth Book for Her Child Reading Program

“Take a deep breath … You look like Miles [Davis]. Miles used to turn his back [to the audience when he performed.] But you don’t have to. Go ahead.”

Mya then kicked off the 80s pop hit with her brother on keys – and her stunning voice blew away the audience. After finishing the first chorus, the full band exploded into the upbeat dance tune that everyone knows and loves.

LOOK: Girl Takes Cardboard Cutout of Danny DeVito to Prom – and Then He Returns the Favor

Judging by the kids’ faces during the song, it’s probably pretty safe to say that Lauper has earned two more fans for life. Additionally, the once-in-a-lifetime experience thrilled their father.

“I’m an ‘80s child,” Ronald Sr. told the Observer. “I grew up listening to her music. I always loved Cyndi Lauper. … So this was just incredible. I tell you, it was so incredible. … Cyndi wrote some things down on paper for us, so I have a piece of paper with her handwriting on it that we’ll never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever lose.”

(WATCH the footage below)

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Have Fun With Your Friends And Share The Cool Story – Photo by Ann.Dree.Ugh Instagram

France Just Banned Smartphone Use in Schools

By
McKinley Corbley
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France has just passed legislation that bans cell phone use in school.

Though the country originally banned cell phone use “during all teacher activity” back in 2010, the new legislation means that students between the age of 3 and 15 will either have to leave their phones at home or keep them turned off during the school day.

However, teachers will have the freedom to decide whether they want to implement the ban with older students.

The law, which was introduced back in December as a part of President Emmanuel Macron’s key campaign promises, was approved 62 to 1, with only a few representatives abstaining from the vote. It will go into full effect in September.

RELATED: Two US States Have Become the First to Require Mental Health Education in School

“We know today that there is a phenomenon of screen addiction, the phenomenon of bad mobile phone use… Our main role is to protect children and adolescents. It is a fundamental role of education, and this law allows it,” said Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer on French news channel BFMTV.

Children are exempt from the ban in the case of disabilities, extracurricular activities, or if phones are required for teaching purposes, according to CNN. The ban also extends to tablets, computers, and other internet-connected devices.

CHECK OUT: Yale is Letting Anyone Take Its Most Popular Class Ever for Free

The law is expected to have a host of sociological, psychological, and physical benefits. Since this French high school banned cell phones four years ago, students are talking and playing more at recess; the youngsters are active and engaged on school field trips, rather than staring at screens; and they say that they are closer with their friends as a result of conversing more with each other.

Additionally, the most recent study on extensive cell phone use shows that checking cell phones during lectures typically costs students half a grade on their final test scores. Another recent study stated that cell phone is likely linked to a dramatic increase in nearsightedness.

What Do You Think About The Ban? Share The Progressive News With Your Friends – Photo by Afagen, CC

Watch Driver Take in Weary Stray Dog After It Wandered Onto His Bus From the Cold

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Good News Network
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It was a chilly day in Chile when Cristhian Lizama let an unusual passenger onto his bus last week.

The driver was on his route through the Maule region when he stopped to admit a man onto the bus. To his surprise, a dog followed the passenger on board.

At first, he thought that the canine belonged to the man, but then he realized that it was simply a stray trying to escape the cold weather.

Instead of kicking the pup off the bus, he allowed the dog to curl up on one of the seats so it could get some sleep – and judging by the contented expression on its little face, it was grateful for the respite.

WATCH: ‘Coolest Bus Driver Ever’ Halts Pedestrian Accident in London

Lizama posted a video of his furry passenger to Facebook, explaining how he couldn’t bear to bother it.

“There are passengers who regularly dirty the seats and throw litter on the floor. The dog just sits there and enjoys the ride,” says the driver.

“I am not going to take the dog off at the terminal either because we are so far from where it got on,” he added. “It will get lost, so I am going to leave the dog here to sleep.”

WATCH: Bus Driver Has Stopped to Feed Stray Dog Every Day for the Last 2 Years

After he took the video, he went to get the dog some food – but when he returned, it had disappeared.

Lizama was reassured, however, when he spoke to other bus drivers in the region and found that the dog is a regular passenger on other routes. Many of his co-workers are used to giving the pup a ride for several stops at a time so it can get some rest.

Beyond that, the dog’s origins are a mystery – but he is probably now famous for being the cutest bus passenger in South America.

(WATCH the heartwarming footage below)

Be Sure And Share This Pawesome Clip With Your Friends – Photo by CEN

First-Ever Test Tube Rhino Embryos Give Hope for Functionally Extinct Species

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Good News Network
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Northern white rhinos are functionally extinct, as only two females of this species are left on the planet – but there is still hope for the species thanks to a revolutionary scientific breakthrough.

An international team of scientists has successfully created the first ever test tube rhino embryos from southern white rhino eggs and northern white rhino sperm using assisted reproduction techniques.

“These are the first in-vitro produced rhinoceros embryos ever. They have a very high chance to establish a pregnancy once implanted into a surrogate mother,” says Prof Thomas Hildebrandt of the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin.

The team successfully managed to adapt reproduction techniques used in horses to the special circumstances of rhino species, opening up the potential to bring back the species from the brink of extinction. This would be achieved by adopting the procedure pioneered here, to oocytes to be collected from the last two living northern white rhino females. Female southern rhinos could act as surrogate mothers to a fledging northern white rhino population. In contrast to the northern species, there are approximately 21,000 southern rhinos in Southern Africa today.

RELATED: World’s Second Largest Coral Reef Has Just Been Removed From Endangered List

The oocytes were collected from southern white rhino females in European zoos and then shipped to AVANTEA, a world leader in assisted reproduction technologies (ART) for large animals in Italy. Several embryos are now cryopreserved for future transfer into surrogate mothers to carry a pregnancy to term.

“Our results are solid, reproducible and very promising. Now we are well prepared to go to Kenya and collect oocytes from the last two northern white females in order to produce pure blastocysts where both eggs and sperm are from northern whites,” Hildebrandt comments. The scientists performed more than twenty oocyte collections in southern white rhinos within Europe, generating more embryos than those reported in the publication. They are currently working on the embryo transfer procedure.

However, because there are only two females left and the available semen comes from only four males, assisted reproduction and in vitro fertilization techniques alone would likely not suffice to create a self-sustaining population of NWR with the necessary genetic diversity. This is why the scientists are working on an additional approach through stem cell technology.

LOOK: 700 Acres of Massive 1,000-Year-old Redwoods Are Being Turned into a Public Park

Combining stem cell research with the now developed ART will provide a blueprint on how to save highly endangered species that have already dwindled to numbers that make conventional conservation efforts impossible.

“This research is groundbreaking. We are witnessing the development of a method that can help to compensate the negative impact of humans on nature. We are very thankful for all donations received from private people supporting our race against time. We hope that the current achievement will help us to convince more people as well as public authorities that this new approach is feasible and worth supporting,” said Steven Seet, head of press and communications at the Berlin research center.

The research was published in Nature Communications back in July.

(Source: Forshungsverbund Berlin)

Preserve Positivity By Sharing The Good News With Your Friends – Representative photo by IIP Photo Archive, CC

Florist Sends Bouquets of Flowers to Every Single Staffer at Local School to Welcome Them Back

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Good News Network
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Some people might be excited for the first day back to school – others might be more mournful.

Regardless, this flower shop wanted to thank her local teachers for stepping up once more to educate the next generation.

Sandi Williams, the owner of April’s Rose Garden flower shop in Walnut Grove, Georgia, just donated bouquets of flowers to every single one of the staffers at Walnut Grove Elementary School as a means of welcoming them into the school year.

LOOK: Hundreds of People Bring Backpacks Instead of Flowers to Woman’s Funeral

Williams’s co-workers reached out to WSBTV earlier this week saying that the florist has been working on the arrangements nonstop for several days.

In total, the shop delivered 150 arrangements to the school this week – and they were greatly appreciated.

“Thanks to April’s Rose Garden Flowers for sending our staff members these flower arrangements! How thoughtful and encouraging!” wrote the school. “Your kindness is very much appreciated!”

Plant Some Positivity With Your Friends By Sharing The Good News – Photo by Walnut Grove Elementary School

“Choose always the way that seems the best, however, rough it may be; custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.” – Pythagoras

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Good News Network
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Quote of the Day: “Choose always the way that seems the best, however, rough it may be; custom will soon render it easy and agreeable.” – Pythagoras

With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?

The Most Important Question to Ask a Life or Business Partner

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Good News Network
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The Lesson: Who are you inviting to be in your carpool lane called LIFE? Once we discover our purpose—our North star—we must make sure that we only partner with people who are going in the same direction. GNN’s own Anthony Samadani came up with this quick way to envision the “right” partner for your business or marriage.

Notable Excerpt: “If you are going northbound and someone is going southbound, would it make sense to have them in your carpool? And that’s the analogy of life. It takes a team, … but in order to get the right people, you guys need to be in the same lane.”

The Speaker: An attorney and TV/Film producer by trade, Anthony Samadani partnered with Good News Network in 2017 to use his entertainment and business acumen to energize the platform and deliver more ways to discover good in the world. Anthony is passionate about empowering people to make every day count and challenging them to find the good in everyday interactions. As a social good entrepreneur, speaker and consultant, Anthony works with individuals and organizations to discover their good so they can “do good, for the greater good.”

MORE From Anthony: Fight Your Fears and Find Your Balance In 4 Minutes

(WATCH the inspiring talk below)

Good Advice? SHARE It – And, CHECK Out More on our Good Talks Page…

Blue Man Group Co-Founder Uses Same Script Applied at His New School: Fun is #1

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lindsaywigo
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The Lesson: The entire foundation of the Blue Man Group’s production was built on creativity, fun, surprise, exploration, and curiosity. Despite how these bombastic elements aren’t typically associated with a school curriculum, one of the group’s co-founders has created an entire academic institution that helps youngsters achieve their “aha!” moments through creativity and fun.

Notable Excerpt: “When we started Blue Man Group in 1988, we had never done an off-Broadway show before. We’d actually done almost no theater. But we knew what we were passionate about, and it was a whole series of things that we had never seen onstage before, things like art and pop culture and technology and sociology and anthropology and percussion and comedy and following your bliss. We established a rule that nothing made it onstage if we had seen it before, and we wanted to inspire creativity and connectedness in ourselves and our audiences; we wanted to do a little bit of social good, and we wanted to have fun doing it. And in the office, we wanted to create an environment where people treated each other just a little bit better, just a little bit more respect and consideration than in the outside world. And we continued to iterate and collaborate and find solutions to create things that hadn’t been seen. Over time, I’ve come to identify the optimal conditions for these types of creative and innovative environments are clear intent, purpose and passion: this is working on something bigger than ourselves. Personal integrity: it’s doing what we say we’re going to do. It’s being our authentic self in all interactions.

The Guest: Matt Goldman co-founded the Blue Man Group in 1988— and now, nearly 30 years later, Goldman is working to apply lessons from the Blue Man Group to education. He created the NYC-based Blue School, a school that values creativity as much as it does academics so he can help to create safe environments where new ideas are free to be formed.

(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below or read the transcript)

Good Advice? SHARE It – And, CHECK Out More on our Good Talks Page…

Employee Lets Autistic Teen Stock the Shelves; Video Goes Viral and Strangers Give Him $120K

By
McKinley Corbley
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A young man’s simple gesture of kindness towards an autistic teen has resulted in an outpouring of recognition and praise for both of them.

Jordan Taylor works at Rouses Market grocery store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was restocking orange juice last week when he noticed Jack Ryan Edwards watching him.

Jack Ryan, who is a 17-year-old boy with autism, was captivated by Taylor’s work. The supermarket employee guessed that maybe the youngster wanted some orange juice. He offered up a bottle to the teen with no response – then, he took a different angle and asked if Jack Ryan wanted to help him stock the coolers.

After getting a kind of verbal confirmation from the teen, Taylor spent the next 30 minutes carefully and patiently working with Jack Ryan to restock the shelves.

WATCH: Autistic Teen Stuns Crowd as He Breaks His Silence and Gives Awe-Inspiring Commencement Speech

Jack Ryan’s father was so blown away by the compassionate gesture, he pulled out his phone and took a few videos of the sweet exchange. The teen’s older sister, Delaney, then posted the videos to Facebook praising the employee for his kindness.

“We all know autism makes going out difficult, and sometimes grocery stores can be a challenge,” wrote Delaney. “He could have ignored him. He could have made an excuse and said he couldn’t allow him to help. Instead, he let him have his moment and in turn gave my family a moment we will never forget.

“It might seem like nothing to others, but as you can hear my dad say in the video, [‘I’m watching a miracle in action’].”

RELATED: After Spending Years Trying to Cut Autistic Boy’s Hair, Compassionate Barber Has Breakthrough

In addition to posting the videos, Delaney also made a GoFundMe page to raise money for Taylor’s college fund.

The post immediately went viral, with thousands of people donating to the campaign and thanking the young man for his actions. One week after the page’s creation, the campaign raised $120,000, all of which will be going towards his education, although he says that he still plans on working at Rouses.

“Donors from Baton Rouge to Bangkok have been inspired by Jordan and Jack’s story,” said GoFundMe spokesperson Bobby Whithorne. “In less than 24 hours, over 1,000 people donated nearly $50,000 from all across the US and all around the world.”

CHECK OUT: Plane Passengers Are Left “In Awe” of Woman’s Kindness Towards Agitated Boy With Autism

Not only that, a local credit union donated a car to Taylor’s family so he would have a means of transportation in the future; and if that isn’t enough, representatives from Rouses Market saw the video and reached out to Jack Ryan so they could offer him a job at the store.

“Because of Jordan, a conversation about inclusivity in the workforce for people with disabilities has been started not only across the nation, but all over the world,” wrote Delaney.

“I hope Jordan and [Jack Ryan’s] story inspires others to include those that are different, across all settings and in all parts of life.”

(WATCH the video below)

Share This Incredible Story Of Compassion With Your Friends – Photo by Delaney Edwards Alwosaibi

Stoners on Social Media Are Mobilizing a Massive Litter Clean-Up Initiative

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Good News Network
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So much trash in such a concentrated area... my friend and I plan on doing this everytime we smoke together. #StonerCleanupInitiative from r/trees

 

Stoners may get a bad rap for being stereotypically lazy, but a new social media movement is calling on marijuana users to join a massive international litter clean-up.

 

I was on my midnight walk home when I found a plastic bag with some trash in. The next thing I know is I pick up every single piece of trash I found on my way. Doing my part for the #StonerCleanupInitiative :) from r/trees

 

It all started when one Reddit user posted a photo of themselves holding a bag full of trash that they had collected from their favorite smoking spot in July.

 

Just Cleaned up the local smoke spot #StonerCleanupInitiative from r/trees

 

Within 24 hours, the post had been viewed hundreds of thousands of times – and it prompted a serious, but powerful question: what if every pothead took it upon themselves to tidy up their outdoor smoking hotspots?

 

My homies and I go around the island every weekend and collect truck loads of trash - all for the love of Earth. Glad to see the trend picking up fellow stoners! from r/trees

 

Dozens of users posted similar photos of themselves brandishing trash bags and armfuls of garbage that they had collected from their own smoking sanctuaries.

 

Didn't even take me 5 minutes to pick this up at a common smokespot. Let's keep the movement going! #StonerCleanupIniative from r/trees

 

The trend then gave birth to the #StonerCleanupInitiative hashtag, which is recruiting more and more participants every day.

 

 

Since the movement was created, hundreds more potheads have joined the initiative to keep Mother Earth a little cleaner – all while they get a little greener.

 

 

Even non-smokers have lauded the movement, with one Twitter user saying “Regardless of whether you agree with smoking weed, I think this is really nice.”

 

 

Plant Some Positivity Amongst Your Friends And Share The Good News

When Woman Can’t Afford Her Grocery Bill, She is Stunned When Her Favorite Rapper Picks Up the Tab

By
McKinley Corbley
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It’s been a difficult couple of years for Therra Gwyn-Jaramillo – but a simple act of kindness from a famous musician has restored her faith in humanity.

Since her husband died of brain cancer in 2014, Gwyn-Jaramillo has been financially supporting herself, her house, and her disabled brother, as well as her four rescue dogs, her two cats, and her blind old chicken. Her troubles came to a tee last week when she was hit with a $4,000 home repair and she wasn’t properly paid for her work as a freelance writer.

“I was too embarrassed to say out loud I was having financial difficulty, but it was a solid problem. I was making rice for me and the dogs to eat. I was losing sleep. I was crying daily. I rationed gas in my car,” wrote the woman from Georgia. “It was breaking me in pieces. I was scared of the future, immediate and long-term.”

Seeing that she was in a tough place, her friend surprised her with a $250 Whole Foods gift card.

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Ordinarily, Gwyn-Jaramillo could not afford to shop at the grocery story, but with the gift in hand, she says that she was salivating at the thought of “fresh fruit” and “real dog food for the pups”.

When she did her shopping at the store in Atlanta, however, she realized that she had accidentally gotten her groceries mixed up with the items belonging to the “handsome stranger” in front of her.

Gwyn-Jaramillo apologized to the man and tried to sort the groceries properly, but he simply said “I might as well get it.”

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“He wanted to buy food for my pets,” writes the widow. “I even clumsily tried to stop the cashier at a certain amount, because the gift card was for $250 and I had gone way over, which at Whole Foods is far too easy to do. I was out of a lot of things at home and I hadn’t added things in my head correctly. My head hasn’t worked all month due to stress. Nothing has worked all month.

“He stopped me. ‘I said I got this,’ he said. All of this, he told me. All of my groceries.”

Gwyn-Jaramillo started crying and insisted on hugging the man, thanking him for his kindness. When she asked him for his name, he simply said “Chris”.

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“I thanked him, but I was so stunned that even as we made small talk (he asked me about my four dogs) I tripped over my words, all the while thinking, ‘I’m talking to an angel. Should I tell him? Should I tell him he’s an angel?’” says Gwyn-Jaramillo. “‘Who ARE you?’ I asked at one point, in true wonder. ‘Just a guy,’ he said.’”

The compassionate stranger paid for all $375 of her groceries before making sure that she was okay and asking if she needed anything else. Awestruck, she tearfully said that she wanted to be like him when she grew up.

The man smiled and said that she was sweet enough for taking care of rescue dogs. Then, he left.

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As it turns out, the mystery stranger wasn’t “just a guy” – he was the Grammy award-winning rap artist Ludacris.

After he left, the cashier told Gwyn-Jaramillo of the man’s actual identity – and she was stunned. Coincidentally, Ludacris is one of her favorite rappers, but she had not been able to place his face when confronted with the heartwarming situation.

“What Ludacris had no way of knowing is that his quiet kindness and generous gesture came at a moment when my candle was out,” says Gwyn-Jaramillo. “He used his personal light to fire up my own. Isn’t that what we should be doing for each other? I think it is.

“Be like Ludacris y’all.”

Roll Out This Story To Your Friends And Share The Good News – Photo by Concerttour, CC

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