I love smiling, it's one of my favorite things to do! But there are some days when even I don't feel like being the happy person I usually am and I know other people feel like this, too. So I thought I would come up with an article that would remind you that when things are going tragically wrong in your life, that there's always something to smile about!
1. Cincinnati Children's Hospital has full-time dogs working in the hospital to comfort the kids.
The Child Life Specialists at Cincinnati Children's live with these puppers (pictured is Leica above taking a sweet little nap). What Child Life does essentially is help patients and their families adjust to hospital life be explaining surgeries through interactive play, offering support during treatments, and obviously bringing these cute little guys around to brighten the kids' days! To learn more about the program, visit their website here or watch Leica and Chevy in action here.
2. A prison in Virginia hosted a father/daughter dance for its inmates.
Richmond City Justice Center of Virginia held a ~fancy~ father/daughter dance so fathers who have been imprisoned can have a relationship with their daughters and encourage them to turn their lives around once they are released. To read more about the dance you can access the article here.
3. Pandas are no longer on the endangered species list!!
I mean this little guy is STOKED that he's not endangered anymore and so should you! Pandas have been endangered since the 1980s because of deforestation and the fact that they have a very small breeding window. Recently though, there has been a 17% population increase in the wild, which has boosted them off of the endangered species list! To read more about the pandas' current state, click here.
4. A sweet little doggo became a sweet little druggo after he came out of surgery.
I only wish I was creative enough to come up with that pun, but this is Oscar and his owner tweeted this picture of him (with that clever pun) when he got out of doggie surgery. Look at his sweet smile! Kind of reminds me of the smile I had when I got my wisdom teeth out and thought I was Dory from Finding Dory... Read more about Oscar and look at pictures of other drugged up dogs here.
5. Pope Francis.
No matter if you're Catholic or not, you have to admit that Pope Francis is a pretty cool dude. I mean just look at him giving everyone a big, supportive thumbs up. I mean this guy has done everything from selling HIS OWN motorcycle (apparently the Pope has a motorcycle?) in order to fund a soup kitchen, to welcoming a random child up on stage during a speech and letting him sit in his important Pope chair! To see more neat things that Pope Francis has done, click here.
6. The baby hippo named Fiona.
Fiona is a baby nile hippo who was born six weeks prematurely in January at the Cincinnati Zoo and has made tremendous strides since! She has recently been upgraded to a new heated tub and is starting to eat hay (that has been chewed up by her mama Bibi) in addition to her bottles!! I mean, just look at her little baby hippo face and try to tell me that you don't want to snuggle her! To learn updates about Fiona and her development, check out the Cincinnati Zoo's page for her here. #TeamFiona
7. There were babies born only hours apart in the same hospital named Romeo and Juliet.
And no, these two are not siblings! How weird is that? Both babies were born at Coastal Carolina Hospital only eighteen hours apart and the coincidence was too good to pass up on, so the parents had a Shakespearean-themed newborn photoshoot. Now the parents of the babies have become friends over this incident! So basically these newborns are getting married! Read more about Romeo and Juliet's love here (and don't worry, I'm not linking you to an online version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet).
8. Remember that someone loves you
Whether it be your family, friends, a significant other, or someone else, there is ALWAYS someone that loves you! I know that whenever I remember how much love I receive in a day a smile is instantly brought to my face. So whenever you feel down, remember the love that you give and receive each and everyday. Smiling is one of the most powerful things in the world, so smile!!
