Quote of the Day: “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.” – Albert Einstein
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?
Two young men have just made history by becoming the NFL’s first-ever male cheerleaders.
Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies are now a part of the 40-member cheerleading squad for the Los Angeles Rams.
Though Peron and Jinnies are both classically trained dancers who have been performing all their lives, they said that the 3-week audition process was incredibly grueling.
Both of them were among the 76 finalists who were auditioning to be on the squad.
LOOK: Buff Dad Wears Tutu For Ballet Class When Daughter Invites Him Instead of Her Pregnant Mom
Thanks to their sweet dance moves, however, they made the cut.
While cheer squads have incorporated “stunt men” into routines in the past, these two trailblazers will be the first ones to perform the same dances and routines as the women.
(WATCH the video below)
Cheer On The Good News: Click To Share With Your Friends – Photo by Los Angeles Rams
Krissy Mae Cagney spent ten years struggling with her addiction – but now that she has been five years sober, she is helping hundreds more people with their own recovery.
Cagney is the sole owner of the Black Iron Gym in Sparks, Nevada. She founded the facility three years ago as a means of creating a community of people who could support each other and overcome their addiction through exercise and group fitness.
In addition to founding the gym, Cagney also launched the crowdfunded Reps 4 Recovery program.
The initiative offers free gym memberships to anyone who has been in recovery anywhere between 24 hours and five years. Over the course of the last 12 months, Cagney has raised roughly $78,000 through GoFundMe to help finance the program.
WATCH: Cop Stops Addicted Homeless Man on the Street and Changes His Life With a Book
The resulting success has funded more than 100 free memberships for the gym’s recovering members.
“[When I was struggling with addiction], I was put through countless rehabilitation programs and I saw a plethora of therapists and counselors; these methods work well for some people, but something I never had was a safe place where I knew I could be (and stay) sober,” says Cagney. “During my years of using, the gym seemed to be the only thing with the power to pull me away from using.”
“I firmly believe in the notion that fitness and lifting can act as treatment for substance abuse problems. I believe it, because it worked for me and I am a firsthand witness at seeing it work for countless others.”
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share The Inspiring Story With Your Friends
While school dances may be fun ways for children to bond with their parents, some moms and dads just can’t join in because of their work or responsibilities.
So as a means of encouraging the kids who had no parents at Bonlee Elementary School’s Daddy/Daughter and Mother/Son Dance, some compassionate police officers showed up to bust a move instead.
Four deputes from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina went to the dance so they could act as stand-ins for the absentee parents – and judging by some of the Facebook photos of the event, it was a huge success.
“We wanted families to have a good time together, but we recognize that not all children live with their parents and not all parents are able to take off work to attend a school event,” said a Facebook post by Donna Griffith of the the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.
WATCH: Deputy’s Act of Kindness Leads Homeless Man to Family He Never Knew He Had
“The community really seemed to embrace it and students are already asking for it to be offered again next year.”
“It felt like something the kids really needed,” said Deputy Jonathan Thomas.
“School dances can feel a little awkward at first, but once the kids saw us out there being silly they knew it was okay for them to jump in. I think it also gave parents the courage to let go and join in with us.”
Bust A Move: Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends
Quote of the Day: “Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life.” – S.D. GORDON
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?
One of the latest and brightest tech revolutions is being implemented into a French office space – and if proven successful, it could start delivering speedier and safer data around the world.
Philips Lighting, the world’s largest electronic lighting company, is test-driving LiFi: a wireless technology that broadcasts the internet through light.
Looking like a simple LED light fixture, each one installed in the French office is equipped with a small modem that makes the light flicker at such a speed that is imperceptible to the human eye. The light is then detected by a USB attachment inserted into the tablet or computer. The company says that if LiFi becomes more popular in the future, the tech could be internally built into most devices.
This setup means that any office space equipped with LiFi will benefit from quality, energy-efficient LED lights and a highly secure, stable and robust connection that has 10,000 times the spectrum of WiFi.
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LiFi, which is short for Light Fidelity, works similarly to WiFi – but with some very key differences. Since WiFi can only transmit internet through radio waves, it comes with significant shortcomings in terms of safety and space. WiFi has a much harder time reaching around walls and barriers, and the frequency can interfere with hospital and airline equipment.
LiFi comes with none of these issues. Additionally, LiFi adds an extra layer of security because it operates on a short-range basis that prevents it from being accessed without a direct line of sight.
Not only that, LiFi provides broadband connection with as much speed as 5 gigabytes per second – which means that a user could simultaneously stream several HD quality videos while having video calls without trouble.
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“Philips is the first global lighting company to offer LiFi-enabled luminaires,” said Olivia Qiu, Chief Innovation Officer of Philips Lighting. “LiFi has enormous potential for today’s digital age and as the world’s leading lighting company we are proud to pioneer new services for our customers.”
(WATCH the video below)
Brighten Up Your News Feed: Click To Share The News With Your Friends
It can be hard to maintain a cool head under pressure—but especially difficult to stay calm in a situation like the one Tammy Cummings endured last week.
The school bus driver was transporting four of her special needs passengers home from their Greenville County school in South Carolina when she saw a semitrailer truck swerving wildly across the road ahead of them.
In the split seconds before the bed of the truck collided with the bus, Cummings immediately check to make sure her aide, Carletta Cyrus, and students were safe before bracing for impact.
“The bed of the truck started leaning towards me and I noticed that my aide was behind the seat the way she was supposed to be, the children were in their seats so I knew they were safe in their compartment area,” said the driver. “I just saw the bed of the truck come towards me and I held up my arms to cover my face because I knew that bed was going to hit us.”
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After the collision, Cummings calmly handled the situation as her training kicked in. Upon making sure that no other vehicles were going to collide with the bus, she moved back in to the passenger area so she could reassure the children.
Luckily, none of them were injured – but when one of the students started to cry, Cummings soothed the anxious child’s anxiety by getting him to play a game on his phone until help arrived.
Though Cummings is humble over her reaction to the incident, she does say that she is “very grateful” that everyone was okay.
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share The Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photo by Greenville County Schools)
Thanks to a generous California-based company, teachers all over the country will be receiving exactly what they’ve been asking for.
Donors Choose is a nonprofit crowdfunding website that allows U.S. public school teachers to raise money for their classroom projects. Band teachers can ask for instruments; science teachers can ask for lab equipment; kindergarten teacher can ask for craft supplies – one teacher even asked for help raising money to take her environmental science class on a field trip to the Grand Canyon.
Earlier this week, there were more than 35,600 teacher requests on the website. Then, suddenly, they were all fulfilled in one grand gesture.
Ripple, a startup company based out of San Francisco, donated $29 million in cryptocurrency to Donors Choose so it could grant every single wish that was on the website.
WATCH: Keanu Reeves Has Been a Secret Charity Badass for Years
The funding is being called the largest single virtual currency gift to a charity in history.
Ripple representatives say that the donation comes from their staff’s gratitude towards the teachers who influenced them in the past. As longtime fans of DonorsChoose.org, which was created in 2000, the startup swooned over the prospect of giving so many hardworking educators a hand.
“In 18 years of doing Donors Choose, we have, honestly, honestly, never been this excited,” said Donors Choose founder Charles Best. “I would say it’s the dream coming true, except we never had this dream because it would have been too crazy to even say.”
(WATCH the announcement video below)
Click To Share The Inspiring News With Your Friends
The image of an adorably outgoing 4-year-old is going viral after a video was uploaded to Twitter showing him crawling under a bathroom stall door so he could befriend the occupant on his bathroom break.
Andrew Hall, an employee at a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Lynchburg, Virginia, was sitting on the porcelain throne when the little boy said hello.
“I just see his little head pop under the stall, and I was like, this kid’s not actually coming under here is he? I’m just gonna start recording in case something happens,” Andrew told WSET.
4-year-old Levi Stevens started his conversation with Andrew by asking what his name was as he crawled into the stall. He then politely explained that he was too short to use the sink and he needed help washing his hands.
WATCH: Grandfather Can’t Stop Laughing When He Finally Discovers the Hiding Place of His Missing Phone
The boy’s mom then called his name from outside the bathroom, and the youngster said goodbye to his new friend.
Amused by the exchange, Andrew posted the video to Twitter with the caption reading: “Chick-Fil-A never ceases to surprise me.”
Over 11 million views later, Levi’s father Len Stevens commented on the video saying: “Hey, Drew. That’s my boy. I’m terribly sorry for the intrusion. He’s very, very friendly, sometimes a bit too much. You handled it extremely well. Thanks for being kind to him. I truly appreciate your understanding and sense of humor about this!”
MORE: Watch Two Kids Disguised as One Tall Man in Trench Coat Try to Get in to See ‘Black Panther’
Andrew waved off the apology, saying that Levi was “just doing what kids do”.
“I’m sure I did the same thing back in the day,” said Andrew. “You got a good kid, he seems fearless and defiantly outgoing.”
(WATCH the amusing video below)
Chick Fil a never ceases to amaze me. And yes it was my pleasure! pic.twitter.com/GZoB7Bm5T7
— drew. (@achandrew13) March 27, 2018
Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends
Quote of the Day: “A flute is just something hard with holes until it is played. So, too, the heart. . . The life of every soul waits like sheet music to be played.” – Mark Nepo
Photo: by Mari Ma, CC
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 Lesson: Most brands are determined to show off how their products and services make lives better – so what is it like trying to build an upbeat business when you struggle with anxiety, depression, and PTSD like Jen Gotch? In this podcast, the female entrepreneur talks about how her blatant honesty about mental health affects her business and how she uses it to her advantage.
Notable Excerpt: “Divorce isn’t the only somewhat unhappy thing that I’m known to talk about, but it’s reality, and like I said earlier, it’s hard for a brand to be realistic. Brands are usually aspirational, especially the type of brand that we have, because we’re a women’s lifestyle company based on fun. I’m a person that has all of those things, but then also I have a lot of pain, and I have a real life with responsibility, and bad things happen, and good things happen. I think it was a few years ago that I really just started to feel – for lack of a better word – grossed out by what I was seeing just with people’s presence. I have a lot of friends who have huge Instagram presences that are either bloggers or content creators, and I would see their feed, which was beautiful, and then I would know their life, and there was such a huge discrepancy.”
The Guest: Jen Gotch is the creative powerhouse and chief executive officer behind the women’s fun-loving lifestyle and apparel company Ban.do: a brand that has transformed from a modest line of hair accessories into a multi-million dollar company. Gotch is also renowned for using her social media presence on Instagram to encourage an honest conversation about mental health.
The Host: Dave Asprey, the CEO and Founder of Bulletproof, is a biohacker (changing his environment from the inside-out to have full control of his biology). For nearly two decades, he’s been questioning the status quo of nutrition and medicine so he could feel better—and have more energy in his 40s than he had in his 20s. Join more than 1 million biohackers who follow Bulletproof for leading-edge information on how to supercharge your body and upgrade your brain.
Books: Asprey is the author of “The Bulletproof Diet” – a guide on how to feel more energized and lose weight – and “Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-in Just Two Weeks”.
Podcast: The Bulletproof podcast is available on PodcastOne, iTunes, Stitcher, and YouTube.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below or read the transcript)
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It has been a little over two years since a determined lawyer took it upon himself to start cleaning a heavily polluted stretch of beach in India.
His efforts have led to the coastline’s transformation from a trash-ridden landfill into a sparkling sandy sanctuary. Not only that, but it has become a hatchery for a vulnerable turtles species that has not been seen on the beach in decades.
The transformation of Versova Beach, which was first initiated by Afroz Shah, has been called the world’s largest beach cleanup project by the United Nations. Though the cleanup eventually recruited thousands of volunteers, Shah was the first one to start cleaning up the shin-deep piles of trash.
“For the first six to eight weeks, nobody joined,” Shah told the Guardian. “Then two men approached me and said, very politely, ‘Please sir, can we wear your gloves?’ Both of them just came and joined me. That’s when I knew it was going to be a success.”
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While Shah has taken great pleasure in witnessing the beach’s radical change, the fruits of his labor came to a tee earlier this week when 80 Olive Ridley turtles hatched on the southern end of the 2-mile beach.
The turtle species, which is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, has not been spotted on Versova Beach in decades. In order to ensure their safety, a team of volunteers slept on the sand so they could watch over the turtle nests and protect them from predators.
“I had tears in my eyes when I saw them walking towards the ocean,” said Shah.
(WATCH the video below)
Pass On The Positive Story To Your Friends: Click To Share (Photo by Afroz Shah)
Plastic straws have just broke the back of yet another global food chain.
McDonald’s announced on Wednesday that they would be joining the ranks of restaurants that are giving up plastic straws in favor of more eco-friendly alternatives.
Starting in May, the company will be launching a paper straw pilot program in all 1,300 of their UK restaurants. Additionally, they will be keeping straws behind the counter and only handing them out upon customer request.
Ditching straws is the next step towards the company’s sustainability goals. McDonald’s chief executive Paul Pomroy told Sky News: “The reduction in use of plastics is a hugely important issue for business, for the sector, and for society.
RELATED: Heartfelt Letter From 5-Year-old Causes Restaurant Chain to Swap Plastic Straws for Paper
“We’ve been on a journey over the past 10 years with recycling, from taking out foam and polystyrene to where we are now – with Big Mac ‘clam’ boxes that are made with recycled board. The only thing left for us to move forward on are the lids that go on to our cups. Those are complicated, but we’re working with our suppliers to find a solution to that.
“We’re really close, so we hope within the next year to be able to have a lid that’s recyclable and serves the same purpose – for hot and cold drinks.”
Negative News Sucks: Click To Share The Positive Story With Your Friends
James is a baby cow who has been struggling since day one – but that hasn’t dimmed his sweet spirit.
Adam and Emily Hopson of the Happy Hens and Highlands Farm in North Carolina found James after his mother had given birth to him on a mountain during a dreary rainy day.
Since James was large for a calf, the Hopsons assumed that he had suffered brain damage from oxygen depravation in the womb. Not only that, but because his mother’s body made it hard for him to nurse, James was not able to get the vital nutrients that growing baby cows need from their mother’s milk.
The Hopsons took James into their home so they could look after him – and their dogs took quite a liking to him. After the pups made him a part of the pack, James began acting more like a canine than a cow.
WATCH: Confident Cat Leaps With Bed in Mouth and Lands Perfectly in Napping Position
“Our dogs adopted James and took over the duties of a mother, loving and cleaning him. Their love and acceptance gave him a will to live,” says Emily.
It has been several months since James was first accepted into the dog pack. He recently underwent a two and a half hour surgery to have a growth removed from his navel. Even though his heart stopped for two minutes in the middle of the surgery, he was resuscitated and successfully treated.
James is too big to live in the house anymore, but he is now the leader of a herd of other orphaned calves who need playmates.
RELATED: Watch Orphan Elephant Conquer His Fear of Water With Help From His Loving Human
“We attempted to reintroduce James to the herd but by this point he was an outcast,” Emily wrote in a blog post. “The other cattle thought he was odd and ignored him or bullied him.
“We knew he would soon outgrow his doggy friends and needed a buddy (they are herd animals and are unhappy without a companion) so we found him some orphan [cow] babies as companions. Since they are also orphans, they accepted James (even though he sometimes wears funny costumes). They bonded right away.”
If you would like to keep up with James’s exploits with his herd of Scottish Highland calf misfits, you can follow the farm on Facebook.
(WATCH the video below)
Pass On This Moooooving Story To Your Friends (Photos by Happy Hens and Highlands Farm)
Scott Foster shows up to every Chicago Blackhawks hockey game on the off chance that both of the team’s go-to goalies are injured. For years, the 36-year-old accountant has shown up to the rink with gear in hand and never even had a chance to step on the ice.
Then during the team’s game against the Jets on Thursday, it was finally his time to shine.
The Blackhawks starter goalie Anton Forsberg hurt himself during pre-game warmups. Collin Delia, who is the backup goalie for Forsberg, then sustained a body injury during the third quarter.
With the Blackhawks carrying a 6–2 lead, Foster stepped onto the ice to play professionally for the first time in the NHL. Not only that, but Foster had not played professionally since his four-year college hockey career ended in 2006.
To everyone’s shock, the accountant played a perfect 14 minutes by deflecting all 7 of the opponent’s shots and preserved the Blackhawks victory.
(WATCH the incredible video below)
Score Big With Your Friends: Click To Share
Quote of the Day: “I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.” – Anne Lamott
Photo: Mclcbooks, CC
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?
This woman may not have been able to live long enough to see her daughter grow up if it had not been for a compassionate stranger who saw a very specific magazine ad.
Back in November, 42-year-old Jennen Johnson was diagnosed with kidney failure. She was told that if she did not find a transplant soon, then she would not live longer than four years.
As a single mother, Johnson was determined to survive – and she was not willing to bet on the transplant list to find her a match.
Instead, the Toronto woman placed an ad in the classified section of the newspaper asking for help.
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The ad, which was placed in Now magazine, reads: “Mother of a 12-year-old daughter desperately looking for a generous O blood type willing to get tested and possibly donate a kidney to save my life. If seriously interested in helping me continue to be a mom to my daughter for the years to come, please contact [me].”
The plea for help went viral until it was eventually spotted by Christi Nolan – a 37-year-old yoga instructor who lives in Hamilton.
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Nolan felt compelled to reach out to Johnson, and luckily, the two women were a perfect match.
They are both currently recovering in the hospital following a successful surgery. Not only that, but Nolan and Johnson – whose shared experience has led them to becoming best friends – plan on staying in touch and spending Thanksgiving together with each other’s families.
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share The Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photo by Christi Nolan)
Fast food chain Taco Bell has just announced that they will be extending their educational benefits to include all 210,000 team member employees in their American restaurants.
The company made their decision after partnering with Guild Education for a pilot program in 2017.
“When we surveyed our employees, education support was one of the top three things they asked for,” said Frank Tucker, Global Chief People Officer at Taco Bell.
“The barriers to achieving their education goals were time, money and support. Our partnership with Guild delivers on all of these needs for our employees through access to online classes, financial aid guidance, tuition assistance and a personal counselor to support each student in real time.”
RELATED: Instead of Firing Illiterate Employees, Company Teaches Them How to Read
The program offers numerous educational benefits, including access to Guild’s academic and financial aid coaches and discounts to Guild’s educational partners – a network of 80 online nonprofit universities that offer Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, programs for high school completion, English-as-a-second-language courses, and a wide selection of certificates. Not only that, but employees can also claim up to $5,250 per calendar year in tuition assistance and get college credit for on-the-job restaurant training.
The best part? Employees aren’t required to put in a minimum amount of time with the company before they can claim the benefits – they can literally just start on day one.
Click To Share The Delicious News With Your Friends (Photo by Taco Bell)
There is something very nostalgic about old-timey barbershops. For the older men whom Lenny White caters to, it’s even therapeutic.
White runs a mobile pop-up barbershop that he takes on the road to nursing homes across Ireland so he can cater exclusively to men with dementia.
According to the Belfast-based barber, everything from the lemon-scented cologne to the light-hearted conversation makes the men feel young again. He even started using an old jukebox to play tunes during his visits so the men could listen to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra – the music that they heard when they were young.
White says that when he first set up the jukebox, he immediately noticed that the patients were more at ease.
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“We instantly saw a massive difference and knew we were onto something,” White told Love What Matters. “The men would relax, sing along to the music and tap away to the beat of the music. Those that were previously agitated going to the hairdresser were relaxing more.”
White wasn’t always doing such meaningful work, however; for 17 long years, he worked as a marketing consultant for the Yellow Pages before he knew that he wanted to “change his job and do something more worthwhile”.
In June 2016, White got a diploma in barbing and became the UK’s first dementia-friendly barber.
MORE: Canada’s First ‘Dementia Village’ is Set to Open its Doors Next Year
“I feel really excited as I know these men are not only going to look better, but also feel better,” says the 37-year-old barber.
“As men get older, we have hair growing in all the wrong places: nose, eyebrows and especially the ears. It gives me huge satisfaction to get these men all groomed and looking fresher. I have so much compassion for my clients. I understand their struggles and I can feel their frustration at times. My job is to give these men time to enjoy and have good feelings through my music, set up and one-on-one time.”
“At the end of my day, I know I have given these men my all [and it] makes me feel happy that I have done something worthwhile.”
(WATCH the heartwarming video below)
Help Your Friends Cut Away The Negative News: Click To Share (Photo by Forty-Five Films)
A pod of dolphins may have been in deep trouble if it had not been for an entire community coming to their rescue last week.
The dolphins had been trapped in the shallow waters of Newfoundland’s Trinity Bay by a ring of ice that was spreading closer and closer to the shore. Surrounded by ice for several days, the dolphins had no way of escaping the harbor.
As concerned town members crowded the shores, someone asked local fire chief Stanley Legge if he could use some of his heavy machinery to clear a path for the dolphins.
Legge then moved an excavator up to the edge of the water and started digging out large chunks of ice from the harbor. Once a substantial amount of ice had been cleared, other rescuers took their boats into the water so they could continue cutting a path to the sea.
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Finally, after plenty of hard work, the dolphins were able to swim free. According to the CBC, the onlookers started cheering and honking their car horns in celebration of the successful rescue.
“It’s a mission accomplished,” Legge told CBC. “I guess we done something good today for the environment and I guess it gives a lot of people a lot of peace of mind that the dolphins got away freely.”
(WATCH the video below)
You Should Dolphinately Click To Share The Story With Your Friends – Photo by CBC
