What heartwarming story do you have to share that could cheer up anyone on Internet who’s feeling down right now?

I rescued a cat some years ago. She turned up at my farm /weekend retreat one sunny Sunday in late October. She was a sweet calico and liked people so I thought she was someone’s pet, even though the nearest home is a mile away. I left to go to work for the week.

Next weekend she was still there, living under the house. It was getting cold and snowy, and given she had not gone home she would starve/freeze, I took her to my far – away home in the city.

I quickly found she was not housetrained. She also really liked the outdoors and was not keen to be inside a house . I took her to the vet , where she had no chip and had never been fixed. She was in fine health and got her shots. The vet insisted to wait 2 weeks before having her spayed. She didn’t like our home, but loved the warehouse and offices I had at work.

I sure she was a barn cat from a nearby dairy farm. They have lots of cats and occasionally one get forced out. It’s unusual for a barn cat, but she was very warm, affectionate and fearless. Warehouse/construction equipment and machinery did not scare her, she knew to get out of the way jump on a shelf and watch, as she probably did in the dairy barn.

In that 2 weeks she was due to be fixed, she had a date with a tomcat and became pregnant. The vet was quite prepared to spay her and remove any kittens…. but I just could not do that…. so in a few weeks she had the 2 cutest little kittens you ever saw. Once they were weaned, I gave them to my parents (who loved them) and got mama fixed.

Life for my kitty was good. Our warehouse overlooked a ravine/wilderness/river so she roamed the wilds during the day and came home before closing, and slept in my office. During the winters, when it was cold and snowy outside she was happy to roam the warehouse.

She never touched a bird but was the best mouser and rat-catcher you ever saw, and did us a big favor in keeping the place free of pests. She had loads of love, affection, smarts and personality, very interactive, more like a dog than a cat. She even learned to respond to commands….. not words but hand-signs. I never met another cat quite like her. I’m thankful we found each other.

Recently my dog slipped her collar (it was three am and I was regrettably too lazy to remove her cone of shame and thunder jacket to put her harness on). She bolted. We couldn’t find her. She’s not the brightest, she’s 90% anxiety and 10% snuggles and she’s 14 pounds. I thought she was gone forever and cried myself to sleep. We would reconvene in the daylight.

At 8: 15 the next morning a got a call. She’d been found! A woman was on her morning run and the dog ran right up to her like, “hello, human, I have made a mistake. Please help.” she took the dog to the vet, got her microchip read, called me, and my puppy was dropped off on her way home from the vet.

The woman has since offered to dog sit her anytime and had texted to see how she is! This was a wonderful boost for my faith in humanity.

My husbands story technically but it’s uplifting.

He’s a phlebotomist and was drawing a boy around 7. My husband does the blood draw. He said the boy just closed his eyes tight and sat perfectly still the whole time. My husband was so proud of him and was telling him. He was telling the kid he did better than most adults. The little boy looks at my husband and says “well I just kept telling myself you can do anything you put your mind to!”

This kid has been my inspiration since!

My wife complained she can’t lose weight, so I helped her get from 230 to 200, then she thought 190 was impossible.

So when she got to 190 I helped her get to 180.

She finally got to 135, her goal weight.

But here’s the thing, it’s okay to stagnant for a bit. Eat a pizza, a big Mac or 10, go a day, a week off your diet.

You can do it, I believe in all of you that want to achieve your goals, that no matter what it is, you can do it.

Just when the burnout comes, and you’re tired of it but yet you don’t want to fully stop, it’s okay to take a break just as long as you come back and finish it. Everyone reaches the last lap at their own pace.

Uncle Iroh once taught me that the flower born in adversity is the most beautiful and rare