Quote of the Day: “The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Photo: by Henry Player, CC – Flickr
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 government of Canada has followed through on their promise to give youngsters free access to all of their national parks.
New budget reforms will permanently give free admission to any youth aged 17 or younger into more than 40 national parks and reserves.
“This budget recognizes something that every Canadian understands: that our quality of life, and our present and our future prosperity, is deeply connected to the environment in which we live,” Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in a speech on Tuesday.
Free admission for everyone was a popular benefit doled out throughout 2017, celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary last year.
“The extraordinary beauty of Canada’s nature, parks, and wild spaces – these are central to our identity as Canadians.”
Young visitors will still be required to pay the normal camping fees, however.
Pass On The Positivity, Eh? Click To Share With Your Friends (Photo by Parks Canada Youth Ambassador Program)
How good are you in a crisis? This woman didn’t stop to consider her own safety, but marched straight to the rescue—of a stranger’s dog.
Ben West was out for a snowy stroll in the park when disaster struck. Luckily, this good Samaritan was nearby.
According to several dramatic videos uploaded by West to Instagram, he had been taking his dog for a walk around Trout Lake in Eastern Vancouver when another dog wandered onto the frozen surface.
Suddenly, the meandering pup fell through the surface of the ice and into the lake.
As pedestrians panicked and tried to call the dog and coax him to crawl back out of the water, one woman simply started breaking the ice with her hands and making her way out to the struggling canine.
“People were kind-of cautioning her — ‘Don’t do it,’” West told the CBC. But all she said was, “It’s a dog, I have to.”
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In full winter garb that became soaked and heavy, when she finally reached the animal, she was waiste-deep. She then pulled the pup back towards the shore through the watery path that she had just created.
Onlookers had already called paramedics to the scene where they were waiting with warm blankets.
West said he wasn’t able to get the woman’s name, but she was reportedly remarkably calm throughout the whole incident.
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The dog, after being toweled off, was back to playing with the other pups at the park without any signs of injury or stress from the life-threatening accident.
“I was just in shock—and really amazed at this woman’s heroic instinct to go do this thing,” added West. “It wasn’t even her dog.”
(WATCH the nerve-wracking video below)
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A video of an Alabama Walmart employee is going viral.
Sabrina Barnes, a worker at the Trussville, Alabama location, was asked to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the store’s ribbon-cutting for their new Walmart Pickup service last week. And, the moving rendition was conjured with more meaning than anyone could have guessed.
“One of our assistant managers knew that I could sing, so he asked if I’d do it,” she said, although she hadn’t sung that song since her middle school talent show.
“I started to cry when I sang it. The song has more meaning to me now, because my son recently joined the military and just left for basic training.”
“I didn’t get to see him off because I had the flu. And all of this happened on my birthday!”
WATCH: Little Girl’s Dancing Goes Viral as She Steals the Show From Her Choir
Her emotional week doesn’t end there, either; she also became a grandmother on Wednesday after her son’s wife gave birth to a baby girl.
That said, don’t expect Sabrina to shy away from further challenges. She says she is going to compete for a spot in the Walmart Talent Show, with hopes to perform at the company’s shareholders meeting in June. And then?
“I’d love to try out for ‘The Voice.’ I was supposed to do it before, but I lost my voice. I can’t wait to try again!”
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share The Tearjerking Tale With Your Friends
Quote of the Day: “Patience is not an absence of action; rather, it is timing; it waits on the right time to act… in the right way.” – Fulton J. Sheen
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 human brain truly is a marvel of anatomy; it functions much like the main processor of a computer, sorting through vast amounts of data, making decisions, prioritizing, utilizing information.
But despite its incredible capabilities – such as creating everything from roller coasters to nuclear weapons – our brains can become overloaded; especially in today’s technologically driven world where our devices continuously wash us with a steady stream of facts and information.
Don’t get me wrong – I love my android and my laptop! In many ways, they make my life easier and they respond instantly to my brain’s queries. Our Western culture supports this need to be constantly connected and informed.
But sometimes, I just want to unplug; I just want to stop the tsunami of yet more information. And I know exactly where to look for a role model to help me do that.
Yup – dogs!
Dogs have the innate, wonderful gift of keeping it simple. They remind me of my childhood, a time when I was blissfully unaware of protocol, of wearing lipstick in public, and ensuring that my clothes were neatly ironed and lint-free.
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For me, dogs are ignorantly innocent hedonists. When they see a cozy sun spot on the rug, they stretch luxuriantly and meander over to lie down for a nap, basking in its warmth and softness. Itchy back? They flop over and wriggle around with their legs flailing wildly till the itch is gone. Great smell in the backyard? Dig and dig some more and unearth that magical scent! Time for a snack? Saunter up to the nearest human who has access to food and look up beguilingly with eyes wide and beseeching. If dogs need to yawn or burp or fart, they just do it unapologetically.
And, if dogs want some attention or love from us, they just ask for it. Probably more than anything, their ability to ask for (and give) love is the most endearing quality about dogs. They don’t keep a mental tally of whose “turn” it is to be affectionate; they have no hidden emotional agendas; they don’t use innuendo or implication. They are forthright and clear in their expression of affection. And, they express their love and adoration often throughout the day.
It didn’t matter whether I was gone for twenty minutes or for two hours; when I came home, my dog Nora always did her “whirley dance” at the door. She bounced around exuberantly with her eyes bright and a big smile on her face – I was back!! How could I not smile? Whatever I had experienced when I’d been out dissolved away. There was my beautiful, sweet pup welcoming me home, so delighted to see me again. Each time she danced her welcome dance, I was reminded of what was really important. That she loved me, that I loved her, that we were a family.
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Take a minute or two to imagine our world as a place where all people felt loved and expressed love freely. What would that be like?
Would war cease to happen? Would anyone ever go hungry again? Would prejudice vanish? Would we ever be afraid of not having enough again? Could our fears of not being enough simply disappear? Would our feelings of loneliness, frustration, depression and anger fall by the wayside? Hmmm, sounds like a possibility to me!
Longer than any other domesticated animal, we humans have lived with dogs. Researchers place our co-habitation at a minimum of 15,000 years and on the far end, up to 30,000 years. Either way, it’s been a long time.
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We put them to work; they herded for us, they pulled carts, they guarded our land. They gave us their all and asked for little in return. In time, the role of dogs shifted and today they are our companions.
I believe they are also our teachers; that they can be vital role models for us. They remind us to cut to the chase, to figure out what our priorities are. They help us to simplify, to pare down our lives to those parts that really matter, mentally, emotionally and materially. Dogs are emotionally forthright and honest; they ask for what they want and they give back without restraint. Current research tells us that yes, they do have a variety of emotions, but we can see that their feelings are pretty transparent and direct. Dogs take care of their own needs whenever possible and when not possible, they just ask for help. They know when to run and chase, and when it’s time to take a nap or admire a beautiful view.
Maybe that’s why dogs don’t need to live very long. Maybe they’ve got the most important stuff figured out and they see their current job as helping us to get it too.
That’s what I believe.
Deborah Dobson is a dog behaviorist, professional pet sitter, and (obviously) a dog lover who can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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Rome was given a rare treat from the heavens this week when they were hit with between 2 to 6 inches of snow on Monday.
The last time that it snowed in the Italian city was six years ago.
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Despite not being equipped for the unusual weather, city officials say that Rome has faired quite well.
Vatican workers even took a break from serving God to delight in the wintery phenomenon and throw some snowballs.
One excited civil servant described the snowfall as “a spectacle—enchanting, surreal.”
(WATCH the video below)
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Canadian residents are becoming more and more excited over the construction of a new village in British Columbia.
This isn’t just any village, however – it is a place specifically designed for seniors suffering from dementia.
The community, which will simply be called The Village, will host a few dozen cottages and shared living spaces for up to 72 dementia patients.
Construction workers started building The Village in Langley earlier this week. Elroy Jespersen, who is the vice-president of special projects at Verve Senior Living and the mastermind behind the Village, told CTV News that he wanted dementia patients to feel the same amount of independence as their able-bodied counterparts. The Village will give them a controlled space in which to live their lives, free of the stressful feeling of always “running into a locked door”.
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He told CTV: “We believe that it’s really important for people to be connected to nature and life and the outdoors.”
The initiative draws inspiration from Hogeweyk, a similarly-designed community in the Netherlands that was declared the world’s first village for dementia patients. The compound features everything from supermarkets and stores, to restaurants and gardens.
While The Village currently is being developed through private funding, and will be completed by spring of next year, its organizers hope that the government will eventually assist with some of the resident’s costs.
Don’t Forget To Share The News With Your Friends: Click To Share (Photo by The Village)
How often does a teenage street fighter — four times expelled from school — turn his life around and start giving the love he never got as a kid?
[You can also listen to “The Good News Guru” tell this story on the Ellen K. radio show.)
Brian Ortega grew up in LA with 13 brothers and sisters, yet had no champions in his corner—but that’s not the case anymore.
The one thing “falling in with a bad crowd” did for Ortega is inspire his purpose. Because he loved to fight, he was drawn, at 13, to the famed Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy. He asked the owners if he could clean the mats, wash towels, help in any way possible, in exchange for lessons in the Brazilian martial art. Later he found a pair of mentors and started training in MMA.
While some athletes have fancy facilities and high-tech equipment, Ortega wanted to show the world that he could make it happen from a tiny one-car garage. And, show the world he did.
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But the best part about this young man is his love of giving back.
“I want to be the person who stands for the people that need help,” he says in the inspiring video below.
For ten years, he’s made an impact in his community, volunteering to give surfing experiences to kids with cystic fibrosis, and going on a nationwide tour of children’s hospitals.
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Even though he has earned well over a hundred thousand dollars, the 27-year-old is still driving a 20-year-old car without heat or air conditioning. He did, however, just spend $20,000 to set up the charitable Brian Ortega Foundation.
He recently received the Hispanic Athlete of the Year Award and, thanks to his unrelenting hard work, the UFC Championship Title is in his sights. Currently undefeated at 14-0, having beaten second-ranked former champion Frankie Edgar on Saturday in Las Vegas, he will soon compete to become the world featherweight UFC champion.
“I was down and out, but was lucky enough to have good people come into my life — I want to do that for kids who are at risk of going down the wrong path and help steer their energy into something positive,” says the fighter.
(WATCH him discuss love and giving back in the video below)
Power Up With Positivity: Click To Share With Your Friends
Quote of the Day: “Sorrow looks back; Fear looks forward; Faith looks up.” – Irish proverb
Photo: by Mark Stevens, Flickr, 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?
Raised on the hard streets of LA, Brian Ortega now wants to use the fruits of his hard work to help others—and he’s fighting for the chance to win the UFC title. Hear The Good News Guru tell the inspiring story.
READ more and see the video on GNN…
The Lesson: Is your body trying to tell you something as you sleep? This Harvard psychologist confirms what people have always known; answers, ideas, and inspiration can come while we sleep. Dr. Deirdre Barrett has spent her career studying the science of dreaming and has some compelling insights on how you can first remember your dreams, then make them work for you.
Notable Excerpt: “First of all, I think [dreams are] naturally already working for us to a certain extent without us having to have any very specific intent about that. In my work … I went around interviewing experts in all fields about whether they ever had had a dream that was useful and the majority of the examples I collected were completely spontaneous. The narrative would often be, ‘You know, I never paid much attention to my dreams until I was working on this chemistry problem that I just couldn’t solve and then one night, I had this dream where dream solved it.’ People who aren’t particularly paying attention to their dreams can sometimes have breakthrough dreams. I think it happens a lot more in cultures that explicitly teach that dreams may be useful for practical things, because I think some of the problem-solving dreams are so obvious that when you wake up, it’s just you remember being told exactly the literal answer to this problem.”
The Speaker: Dr. Deirdre Barrett, PhD, is a psychologist who teaches at Harvard Medical School and specializes in the study of dreams. Barrett has written a few books about human behavior and the science of sleep, such as “The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Dreams for Creative Problem Solving––and How You Can Too”.
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 here)
Good Advice? SHARE It – Or Check Out More On Our Good Talks Page…
As a means of pushing their company towards sustainability, LEGO has just announced that they will soon be selling bricks made from plant-based plastic.
The natural polyethylene plastic, which is sourced from sugar cane, will be used for a line of botanical-themed LEGO pieces that will be included in box sets later this year. While they aren’t completely biodegradable, they are much more recyclable than their crude oil counterparts. Plus, the sugarcane used for the polyethylene is sustainably sourced.
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The initiative is part of the Danish toy company’s goal of achieving 100% sustainability by 2030.
Tim Brooks, the firm’s vice-president of environmental responsibility, said: “This is a great first step in our ambitious commitment of making all Lego bricks using sustainable materials.”
Build Up Some Positivity: Click To Share (Photo by LEGO)
Humans are capable of extraordinary things – such as piercing a pane of glass with a needle.
The hosts of The Super Slow Show on Youtube traveled to China so they could film such an astonishing feat of skill performed by Shaolin Master Feng Fei.
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The camera filming the throw was able to slow the footage down to 28,500 frames per second – and the result is incredible.
If you want to skip the details, just fast forward to about two minutes into the video for the throw.
(WATCH the video below)
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Joel Holmberg was tired of seeing racist language against the First Nations on social media. So instead of allowing such prejudice to flourish, the 45-year-old took to Facebook with an offer of kindness and camaraderie.
Holmberg, who owns 5 acres of land near Barrhead in Alberta, Canada, offered to share his land with a First Nations family for free.
Holmberg writes: “Any First Nations family who just wants to live on the land, hunt, fish, grow foods, and spend their life immersed in their culture, raising their kids traditionally, should get a hold of me. I have space for a family to live here, lots of moose around, and plenty of space to grow foods.
The Alberta resident says that he had been playing with the idea of sharing his land for a few years now, but he finally became spurred to take action after social media became inflamed over a recent hate crime in Saskatchewan.
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“My 5 acres – though it constitutes my life’s work and I’ll be paying for it another 20 years – in reality, it is stolen land and I know that.
“Our acreage can be a model of how things should go in Canada.”
Since making the post on Facebook, Holmberg has received over 100 messages concerning his offer. According to The Guardian, indigenous elders have contacted him about performing ceremonies on the land. Chinese, Sikh, and Muslim communities in Canada have also sent him messages saying that he had inspired them to take on similar initiatives.
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The 45-year-old will be responding to messages and giving tours of the acreage to interested families during the coming weeks in hopes that he will find the right folks.
“If you are indigenous, have kids, are clean and sober, and want to be free on the land, we have a home for you here,” says Holmberg. “No rent, no bills, just live free, far from the big s****y cities.”
Click To Share The Inspiring Story With Your Friends
Quote of the Day: “Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It’s your masterpiece after all.” – Nathan W. Morris
Photo: by goobledigook, 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: If you’ve reached a point in your life where you need to find the one thing that deserves all of your creative energy, it can be frustrating trying to nail down which of your passions deserves your attention. But Jason Silva has a method of how you can “follow the trail of neurochemistry” to find your ultimate passion.
Notable Excerpt: “Here’s how you find your passion, if you don’t know it: you make a list of 15 things that you’re really curious about. Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, often talks about the pressure of knowing your passion, and she says that if you don’t know your passion, at least chase curiosity. Because at least you know things that you’re curious about, so you make a list of 15 things. Now what you’re gonna do is create a kind of Venn diagram and you’re gonna find where these things overlap. Where do 3 to 5 of those 15 things that you’re curious about overlap?”
The Speaker: Jason Silva is an Emmy-award winning television host, motivational speaker, and filmmaker. In addition to hosting his YouTube series Shots of Awe, Silva has given hundreds of lectures on creativity, technology, innovation, mental health, and relationships. His National Geographic TV show Brain Games has been broadcasted in over 171 countries.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below) – Editor’s Note: This talk contains mild language.
Good Advice? SHARE It – Or Check Out More On Our Good Talks Page…
“An idle mind is the devil’s playground,” the saying goes. And if you’re one of the roughly 10% of people in this country who are reportedly in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction, unattended boredom can be a trigger for relapse.
Everyone gets bored from time to time. When day-to-day life seems tedious and lackluster, a lack of motivation or creative inspiration may be the reason. There may even be a medical cause, such as an underlying diagnosis of depression that may be contributing to a general lack of interest in daily activities.
For people in recovery, these same dynamics can also be the source of boredom—or there may be other causes unique to healing from a substance use disorder. For example, whereas in active addiction a person may have become accustomed to getting “high,” in sobriety (following detox and treatment) that experience of intense and immediate, drug-induced euphoria is no longer there. The result can be a phenomenon known as “anhedonia,” which is not uncommon in recovery. Anhedonia is a psychological condition characterized by the inability to derive pleasure from normally pleasurable acts.
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Second, successful recovery happens gradually, over time, with the daily practice and cultivation of healthy lifestyle choices. Good sleep hygiene. A nutritious diet. Regular exercise. Mindful meditation. Weekly attendance in a recovery support group like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. As these daily ins and outs of recovery become habitual, it’s not uncommon for them to lose their novelty and shine. Like any routine, they can grow tedious.
How, then, can you stay engaged and motivated in your recovery when boredom hits? Here are some tips to help you harness boredom in the service of personal growth and renewed enthusiasm for sober living:
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When you embrace your boredom, practice more daily mindfulness, and do one thing that scares you, boredom can be an opportunity to reinvigorate your recovery and reinvent yourself.
Anna Ciulla is the Vice President of Clinical and Medical Services at Beach House Center for Recovery where she is responsible for designing, implementing and supervising the delivery of the latest evidence-based therapies for treating substance use disorders. Anna has a passion for helping clients with substance use and co-occurring disorders achieve successful long-term recovery.
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If it had not been for the kindness of one boy from Illinois, these Puerto Rican students may have been forced to continue sitting through their classes in darkness.
7-year-old Avery Huddleston was heartbroken by the amount of damage sustained by the Caribbean territory following Hurricane Irma in September. So instead of celebrating his birthday this year and receiving gifts for himself, the first grader asked for school supplies to be donated to Puerto Rican schools.
Ameren electrical workers ended up distributing the supplies to the students of the La Escuela Rafael de Jesus elementary school in Rio Grande – but while they were there, they noticed that almost all of the classroom lights were still out.
Even though the facility had largely been without electricity since the hurricane, however, the workers noticed that some of the lights in the building were still on. Upon investigating the circuitry, they were able to repair the broken transformer and restore power to the building.
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The students were so overjoyed by the lights coming back on, the youngsters started dancing, cheering, and screaming with happiness.
Ameren worker Mike Beardsley told KTVI: “If it wasn’t for one kind gesture by Avery, a little 7-year-old boy, they’d still be sitting in the dark at this school.”
(WATCH the video below)
Power Up With Positivity: Click To Share With Your Friends – Photo by KTVI
Who could resist a face like that? Certainly not this group of sympathetic fishermen.
A group of sailors were boating across the waters of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico when a hungry sea lion hitched a ride on the back of their boat.
The sea lion can be seen balefully eyeing the gang as it casually hangs onto the speeding ship.
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As a reward for the creature’s resourceful mode of travel, the sailors decide to treat it to some of their bounty.
One of the boaters scoops out a fish from their tank and throws it into the eagerly awaiting mouth of the sea lion. Another sailor can be heard imitating the sea lion with periodic exclamations of “Om nom nom nom!”
After a few treats, the intrepid hitchhiker finally hops off into the ocean to rejoin his buddies.
(WATCH the video below)
We Ain’t Lion: You Should Click To Share The Video With Your Friends
