Quote of the Day: “Each moment is a place you’ve never been.” – Mark Strand (poet)
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?
Rethinking Narcissism: The Bad—and Surprising Good—About Feeling Special
The Lesson: Narcissism exists on a spectrum. Sociopaths exhibit too much of the trait and have a problem with grandiosity and arrogance, but too little of it—utter selflessness—may also be detrimental. A healthy sense of self places you in the middle of the spectrum and is the optimum goal for ourselves and our children.
Notable Excerpt: “What science shows, from the research of Dr. Craig Malkin, is that there is a spectrum, super-unhealthy on both sides—too much feeling special, becoming untethered to others, and too little feeling special. The phrase that captures the healthy narcissist more than any other: they have big dreams. They are willing to feel special enough to think they can do something meaningful in the world…and they’re not going to sacrifice relationships in going after those dreams. The tether that keeps us in the center is secure relationships.”
The Speaker: Brian Johnson is a philosopher and founder of Optimize.me, a website, app, and free video series that help people to optimize their lives so they can be their best selves. He studies self-improvement books, then breaks them down into bite-sized chunks and ‘Philosopher‘s Notes’ for busy people who want ‘more wisdom in less time’. He also offers Optimal Living classes and online training for your Hero’s Journey.
Podcast: Brian’s podcast, OPTIMIZE with Brian Johnson, features the best Big Ideas from the best optimal living books. More wisdom in less time (between 4-19 minutes each) to help you live your greatest life. Subscribe: Stitcher — iTunes — Podbean.
Featured Books: In his book, Rethinking Narcissism, Dr. Craig Malkin, a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Harvard Medical School, differentiates between healthy and unhealthy narcissism and offers clear, step-by-step guidance on how to promote healthy narcissism in ourselves, and our children.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below)
Good Advice? SHARE It – And, CHECK Out More on our Good Talks Page…
Dutch Railway’s Unique Social Media Gives Passengers Second Chances With Their Missed Connections
Most people have experienced some kind of meaningful connection with a stranger – and this railway company is ensuring that all of their passengers can try and get a second chance with those missed conversations.
Dutch Railways has been running a publication that broadcasts their passengers’ missed connections in the hopes that they will be able to facilitate meet-ups between these special strangers.
The Hartkloppingen page – or “Heatbeats” in English – was originally published in the organization’s free onboard magazine. In 2008, they moved the section to a Tumbler account.
The page reads: “Every day, more than 1 million people travel by train. And then it can happen that you have a very nice conversation with a fellow traveler. Or not, and then you are out of luck afterwards. Do not worry, because here you can leave a message for that nice travel companion. And who knows, [maybe] you will travel together next time!”
WATCH: A Spontaneous Matchmaker Nurse Has Incredible Track Record For Helping Folks Find Love
Some of the posts are pretty playful – like this one that was translated by NPR:
“We sat on a balcony in the train from Amersfoort to Utrecht. I had fries with peanut sauce — afraid it would stink up the whole train. You had a mullet, just came from a singing bowls concert. I think you’re pretty. Thought it was way too short, the time we chatted. Want to catch up?”
Other broadcasts, such as this one from a 22-year-old male passenger, have a more wistful tone:
“On Saturday evening … I was on my way to Hilversum in the Intercity. You [were] already waiting outside the coupe, while I was just walking around with my bags. The sliding door slipped right in front of my nose, which you also noticed. You laughed at me, and I laughed back. Then we looked at each other in a shy way and smiled through the glass of the sliding door, before the reality returned and we both had to leave. Did we have a moment, or did I see that wrong?”
RELATED: Woman Deceived On the Internet by Older Man Finds Love With Model Whose Photos Lured Her In
While the railway company may not have exact metrics concerning the page’s success, they told NPR that roughly 4,000 relationships blossom into fruition on their trains every year – and with the help of Heartbeats, they hope that there will be even more during the coming year.
Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends
Vietnam War Vets Unite to Build Club of Friendship With Their Former Foes
It’s been 43 years since these soldiers fought against each other in the jungles of Vietnam – but now, they’re working together to build friendships instead.
A team of Australian and Vietnamese veterans from the Vietnam War are facilitating a club in Vung Tau harbor where other veterans such as themselves can meet for a beer “where they once exchanged bullets”.
According to an exclusive interview with ABC News, the vets say that they have always experienced a mutual respect for each others’ soldiers, values, and tactics, despite the fact that they were pitted against each other. After Peter Safe joined the army as a 17-year-old, he says he was stationed in a Viet Cong village where he developed an affinity for the nation’s culture.
WATCH: Friends For 60 Years Find Out They’re Biological Brothers
“I never had any problems there … that was when I really fell in love with the country and the people,” Safe told ABC. “The soldiers we captured, [if] wounded, would… be treated by our doctors… and we always buried their dead respectably.”
Now, in a building that used to serve as an Australian war base, the ex-soldiers have found community in their shared experience during the war – and they hope that they will be able to expand that community over the course of the next year.
“I’m not a relaxed person even now … probably the only time I relax is when I’m back in Vietnam at Tommy’s bar having a few beers with the boys,” said Safe. “I think it’s just because we’re all army — we understand each other.”
Be Sure To Read The Full ABC News Interview For More Amazing Details – And Remember To Share The Story With Your Friends (Photos supplied by Peter Safe and Vo Xuan Thu via ABC.net)
Watch Audacious Arctic Fox Persuade Ice Fisherman to Share His Precious Catch
A persistent Arctic fox was recently treated to a hearty meal thanks to its unrelenting bravery – and his adorable little face, of course.
Siberian fisherman Ildar Biktimirov was ice fishing earlier this month when the courageous little critter wandered up to his hole in an attempt to share in the man’s bounty.
Biktimirov initially tries to ward off the fox by loudly telling it to leave his fish alone – yet still the fox continues to approach the fisherman.
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The man can be heard saying: “Why are you so daring? You mustn’t be that audacious!”
Finally, after several failed attempts to nab the goodies, the fox resorts to using its charm and good looks.
It starts to paw at the ice around the fisherman’s hole, pausing every few seconds to glance at the man and see if it’s working.
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After several seconds of contemplative silence, the fisherman chuckles sympathetically and rewards the fox for its persistence.
“Don’t you rock, man,” says Biktimirov. “Well done. It’s just like you caught it yourself. It’s yours for the digging trick.”
Biktimirov is so tickled by the fox’s winning personality, he continued sharing his catch with the sweet Arctic dweller. The critter “stuffs its cheeks like a hamster” before happily trotting off into the sunset with its mouth and tummy filled with fish.
Click To Share This Cute Story With Your Friends
Octavia Spencer Says Jessica Chastain Helped Her Make Five Times Her Asking Salary
In these times of dicey celebrity news stories and allegations, it’s important to recognize the ones who have not fallen from grace – or in this case, the ones who have helped their fellow co-stars, rather than hurt them.
During the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s “Women Breaking Barriers” panel last week at the Sundance Film Festival, Oscar award-winning actress Octavia Spencer spent a portion of her interview explaining how Jessica Chastain – her co-star on The Help – made sure that Spencer got paid as much as she deserved.
In anticipation of the upcoming comedy flick that the two actresses will be filming together, Spencer had been talking to Chastain about how women of color are proven to make less money than their white co-stars.
Mortified by the inequity, Chastain became determined to eliminate the pay gap between her and her cohort.
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“I told her my story, and we talked numbers, and she was quiet, and she said she had no idea that that’s what it was like for women of color,” said Spencer. “I love that woman, because she’s walking the walk and she’s actually talking the talk. [Chastain] said, ‘Octavia, we’re gonna get you paid on this film.’
“She said, ‘You and I are gonna be tied together. We’re gonna be favored nations, and we’re gonna make the same thing, you are going to make that amount.’ Fast-forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for.”
(WATCH the interview below)
Help Your Friends See The Good News: Click To Share (Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA, CC and Gage Skidmore, CC)
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein
Quote of the Day: “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein
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?
Photo Credit: SOZIALHELDEN-CC
An Amazing Story of Synchronicity as Heirloom Ring is Found by Strangers in Time for Marriage Proposal
For three years, Nico Bellamy had been secretly holding onto an engagement ring that belonged to his girlfriend’s late grandmother. With the precious family heirloom tucked away in a safety deposit box, the 27-year-old had been waiting to pop the question to his beloved on a special vacation they’d planned in advance.
Then, on one frightful summer morning, he was horrified to find that it had been stolen.
(LISTEN to our weekly radio show to hear the quick conclusion, or continue reading…)
Bellamy told Good News Network that – after he and Caitie Schlisserman had been dating for a long time – her father had slipped him the engagement ring so it would make his marriage proposal all the more special.
“Caitie’s dad gave me the ring the morning after her older sister got married,” he wrote in an email. “I joke that it was a not-so-subtle hint to get on with it already, but I think in reality he expected that after being together for seven years, I’d probably be proposing at some point in the future and he wanted his daughter to have a family heirloom.”
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Back in July, Bellamy and Schlisserman were preparing to move across town to a new house in Silver Lake, California. As a means of keeping the heirloom closer to home, Bellamy withdrew the ring from the safety deposit box, slipped it into a plastic bag, and then into a tiny box, and put the little package in his backpack.
Shortly after the move, they were just about to go to the airport to pick up Katie’s father, and when Nico looked for the ring, he found that the backpack had been unzipped and the box was gone.
Overcome with panic, he realized that it must have been stolen by the movers who were at his house earlier that week. As he drove to the airport—still trying to keep the secret from Catie—Bellamy just stared off wondering what he would tell his future father-in-law.
On the way back from the airport, however, Bellamy took a back road in order to avoid traffic, and that is when fate stepped in.
RELATED: Woman Deceived On the Internet by Older Man Finds Love With Model Whose Photos Lured Her In
The distraught boyfriend spotted a sign posted to a tree that made his heart stop. The sign read: “Found Engagement Ring”.
Bellamy left Catie and her father at the house and “took the dog for a walk”, and contacted the phone number on the sign.
It turned out these people had found the ring box in a nearby alley, where the movers had been a week earlier. Bellamy guesses that the movers looked inside the ring box, saw the crumpled up plastic bag, and assumed that there was nothing in it. The two good Samaritans almost threw the box into the trash themselves, before ‘something told them’ to look inside.
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Thanks to the strange twist of fate, Bellamy was able to take the sentimental keepsake to Paris, when they finally took their dream vacation, and slip it on Catie’s finger on New Year’s Eve.
“The couple that found the ring is definitely invited (to the wedding),” Bellamy told Good News Network.
“They actually don’t know they’re invited yet, because we haven’t sent out invitations and I haven’t seen them in the last few weeks, but I did text them after I proposed to thank them for saving my ass,” he added.
Only one sign was hung in the neighborhood—and on a street that Bellamy never drives down. What is Catie’s explanation for the coincidence?
“I like to think that it was my grandparents watching out for us.”
Click To Share The Astonishing Story With Your Friends (Photo by Nico Bellamy)
Are You Ever Bored? Get Inspiration From This Dog That Plays ‘Fetch’ By Himself
Unlike many of us adults, it doesn’t take much for little kids to entertain themselves—toddlers can just go outside and play with sticks or rocks.
This dog offers another prime example of how easy it can be to entertain yourself.
Ryan Faw was walking alongside a stream in Kobe, Japan when he saw a clever little dog who was using the river current in order to play ball with itself.
Faw assured viewers that the dog’s owner was nearby, but it seemed to be perfectly content to play fetch on its own.
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The pup would gently place its orange ball into the river before running further downstream so it could wait for the toy to drift close enough to snatch in its mouth. The dog would then run back upstream and do the same routine all over again.
Though it does lose the ball amidst the rocks near the end of the video, the courageous canine is stays hot on its trail.
WATCH Joyful Reaction of Old Dog Being Given a New Puppy Friend For Christmas
One YouTube user aptly interpreted the scene for us all, “Watching this video thinking to myself ‘I wish I were this easily amused’ as I’m sitting here being easily amused watching a dog play fetch with itself.”
(WATCH the sweet video fur yourself below)
Click To Share This Pawesome Tail With Your Friends
Your Child Won’t Sleep? Here Are the Strangest Parenting Strategies For Lulling Your Kid to Sleep
Every parent can empathize with the torment of trying to help a stubborn child settle down for sleep – which is why this organization asked people about the strangest parenting methods for lulling children into dream land.
The masterminds behind Calm.com and the Moshi Twilight Sleep Stories app asked more than 2,000 American and British parents about their slumber-inducing secrets. Then, they conducted a survey on which parenting methods seemed the strangest.
46% of respondents agreed that the number one weirdest trick for lulling children to sleep is “explaining to the child the infrastructure dream of China’s leader Xi Jinping”. (LOL.)
Coming in at a close second place, 36% of parents voted on “having the child listen to a recording of a chapter from an 18th century Scottish economics book”, which is read by a really boring teacher.
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Other entries include getting the child to listen to an hour-long recording of people yawning; having the child watch a video of a crossword puzzle tournament; running a vacuum cleaner in the same room; and having the child watch “Baa Baa Land”, an 8 hour slow-motion film about sheep grazing.
What are your tips for putting your children to sleep?
Don’t Snooze Over This Story: Click To Share With Your Friends (Feature photo by Winnie-T, CC)
“He that would have fruit must climb the tree.” – Thomas Fuller
Quote of the Day: “He that would have fruit must climb the tree.” – Thomas Fuller
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?
Photo: Gabriela Palai, CC license
High School Wrestler With Down Syndrome Finishes His Final Season Totally Undefeated
High school wrestler Cedric Lehky is a force to be reckoned with.
Cedric was first invited to join his wrestling team when he was in eighth grade. Although Cedric has Down syndrome, he performs with as much ability as his teammates — and many of them say they couldn’t be a team without him.
Fellow wrestler Aaron Hertel says Cedric is “a big part of this team. When our morale is at the lowest when we are cutting weight, you know, our energy is at its lowest, he brings us up.”
But Cedric isn’t just a morale booster on his team – he’s also an incredible wrestler. When he won his last match on January 12, 2018, it was his final win in an undefeated season.
Even fans of the opposing team cheered for Cedric as he finished his impressive season.
While Cedric is considered a bit of a celebrity at school, his mom, Jeanette Brinkley, says he’s so much more than that. She says Cedric’s amazing accomplishments “give hope to any other parent with special needs [children]. He does everything that everyone else would do, and I just never had any expectations that [weren’t] well exceeded, and it’s beyond amazing.”
Be sure to WATCH the heartwarming interview at our partner’s website – and SHARE the story with your friends… NOTE: GNN has no control over the ads in the video player, so please remember we do not endorse the advertisements.
Cop Surprised – and Delighted – When He Finds the Car He is About to Ticket is Made of Snow
We’ve all seen some ‘cool’ cars in our day, but this is ridiculous.
Last week, Montréal-based artist and prankster Simon Laprise decided to confound his community by sculpting a parked car entirely out of snow.
The wintery automobile was so convincing, local police officers were about to ticket it when they realized that they had been bamboozled.
Instead, the cops left a note reading “You made our night!!!” to which Laprise responded on social media by saying: “No, no, you made my night!”
Check out his collection of photos below…
Click To Share The Cool Story With Your Friends – Photos by Simon Laprise Designs
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Amazing Synchronicity as Heirloom Ring is Found by Strangers in Time for Marriage Proposal (Good News Guru Radio)
What if, for three years, you had been secretly holding onto an engagement ring that belonged to your girlfriend’s late grandmother, and you lose it? This guy got lucky and you won’t believe how fate stepped in. Hear The Good News Guru tell the riveting story…
Read more here…
Why Deep Confusion is Actually a Tool For Victory
The Lesson: Most people are made pretty uncomfortable by the feeling of being lost in life – but those exact feelings of confusion and anxiety are invaluable tools for your growth and success.
Notable Excerpt: “95% of people flee from pain, but the top 5% – the true heroes of humanity, the great leaders among us – understand that pain is a doorway into true power. Suffering breeds strength.”
The Speaker: Robin Sharma’s talks on business have attracted over 750,000 people seeking his unique insight on strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurial mastery – and those viewers are already starting to see results in their personal growth. A best-selling author and motivational speaker, Sharma’s has spent the last twenty years of his career delivering talks to thousands of people all over the world, as well as to the massive corporate workforces of Nike, Microsoft, and HP.
Books: The Canadian speaker has published 11 groundbreaking self-help books, the most notable of which include “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” and “The Leader Who Had No Title”.
Podcast: Sharma’s first two Mastery classes are totally free to view and you can also download his free Mastery Sessions podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud, or watch his talks on YouTube.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below)
Good Advice? SHARE It – Or Check Out More On Our Good Talks Page…
After Scoring This Astonishing Trick Shot, Teen With Down Syndrome is Contacted By the Globetrotters
James Meiergerd won the hearts of his fellow students after he landed an astonishing trick shot during half-time at last week’s basketball game. The shot was so impressive, in fact, he even caught the attention of the Harlem Globetrotters.
18-year-old Meiergerd is a senior student with Down syndrome at West Point-Beemer High School in West Point, Nebraska. In addition to competing in the Special Olympics, the teen is also an honorary member of his school basketball team.
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For the last two weeks, Meiergerd has been working to perfect his backwards half-court shot so he could show off during half-time.
When he successfully managed to sink the basket in front of the entire student body, the crowd went wild.
Footage of his impressive shot was shared so widely on social media, the Globetrotters invited him to be their guest of honor for their spring performance in Omaha.
(WATCH the stunning video below)
Score Big With Your Friends: Click To Share
How James Dyson Will Use His Vacuum Design to Suck Garbage From Rivers
The engineer famous for creating a game-changing vacuum cleaner is using the same design ingenuity to help the environment.
James Dyson recently released his sketches for the M.V. Recyclone: a river barge that would collect garbage from polluted waterways. The barge would be equipped with a net that would skim the surface of the water and trap floating trash. The trash would then be separated using the very same cyclone technology that put Dyson vacuums on consumers’ radars during the 1990s.
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Once collected, the trash could then be delivered to local recycling facilities for processing.
Dyson told Inhabitat: “To an engineer, there’s a certain thrill in solving problems, and this was absolutely an interesting one. The concept actually started as a grid which skimmed rivers, attached to a power plant placed at strategic locations along a river. But this was slow and immobile, and hardly scalable. So I began thinking about how to make it better, faster, more efficient. And eventually the barge idea emerged.”
While the barge is still in the early phases of research and development, the engineer hopes that the final design will be able to cleanse river ways of pollution before the litter makes its way to the ocean.
Don’t Be A Sucker For Negativity: Click To Share
When Husband Dreams Wife’s Recovery After Las Vegas Shooting, She Makes ‘Miraculous’ Comeback
When a shooter opened fire on a country music festival back in October, mother-of-two Jovanna Calzadillas was shot in the head. The 30-year-old was taken to a Las Vegas hospital where doctors gave her husband Frank a dire prognosis.
The bullet had struck the side of her brain that processed speech, resulting in a “non-survivable injury”. They said that it would be best to take Jovanna off of life support and donate her organs.
Frank, who works as a police officer in Salt Lake, then had a life-changing dream in which Jovanna visited him and said that everything was going to be okay. The vision inspired him to ignore the doctors’ advice.
Four months later, Jovanna is speaking, eating, and even taking small walks with the help of a robotic exoskeleton. Her doctor called the recovery “nothing short of miraculous”.
Earlier this week, Jovanna was able to go home to her 11-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son – and the ‘miracle mom’ joked that she was excited to be able to boss her husband around with her cane.
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“On October 1st, a part of me changed that night,” said Calzadillas during a news conference at Barrow Neurological Institute and Select Specialty Hospital in Phoenix on Wednesday
“Even though I won’t be the same old Jovanna, I will come back stronger. We will not let people like him win. We will not live in fear.”
“I feel strong and positive,” she said. “My kids and my family — I will not quit on them and I will not quit on myself.”
You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe page to help pay for Jovanna’s medical expenses.
(WATCH the inspiring interview below)
Click To Share The Miraculous Story With Your Friends
Catch an Amazing Story of Synchronicity With No Explanation Other Than FATE—on Our Friday Radio Broadcast
I’ve got an incredible story to share during my Good News Guru radio segment on KOST-103.5 FM this morning—and it’s streaming LIVE on the internet.
Imagine that your future father-in-law secretly gives you an heirloom engagement ring to propose with, the one that belonged to your girlfriends’s grandmother… And, then, you it’s STOLEN… You might lose hope, but fate might step in. Find out what happened next:
If you missed the broadcast: Here’s the link to the audio. You will love this story.
Listen Live Online- Every Friday at 9:54 am Eastern / 6:54 am Pacific — or on the radio at 103.5 FM if you live in L.A.
“Don’t find fault, find a remedy.” – Henry Ford
Quote of the Day: “Don’t find fault, find a remedy.” – Henry Ford
Photo: U.S. Capitol Dome
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?