Our partner Rob Brezsny, whose latest book is Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle, provides his weekly wisdom to enlighten our thinking and motivate our mood. Rob’s Free Will Astrology, is a syndicated weekly column appearing in over a hundred publications. He is also the author of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: […] The post Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ by Rob Brezsny appeared first on Good News Network.

The excitement of sharing joyous pregnancy news with your partner is hard to contain. But sometimes, the news that a baby is on the way coincides with a special day, so it’s worth the wait. When a mom finds out she’s having her first child, it can be overwhelming, but the support of an equally excited dad can make those pregnancy jitters slip away. A mom-to-be knew she was pregnant after taking an at-home test. Instead of sharing the news with her husband on the spot, she opted to surprise him at his birthday dinner. The pair were celebrating with her parents when she decided to sneak the news to her husband and caught him totally off guard. The video of the moment went viral on TikTok. The man thinks he’s getting a gift from his in-laws, not realizing what is inside. He jokes to the camera and tells his future son, “Find a girl with a family like this.” Then he opens the box, sees the positive test, and yells, “No way!” @beawesomeworld Heart Warming Surprise #surprise #birthday #love #gift #surprisedelivery #happybirthday #surprisebirthday #anniversary #gifts #giftideas #party #bouquet #flowers #surprisebox #happy #handmade #balloons #chocolatebouquet #chocolate #giftbox #cake #birthdaysurprise #birthdaygift #art #instagood #celebration #surprisegift #instagram #bouquetmurah #friends #pregnancy #pregnant #baby #newborn #motherhood #maternity #love #babygirl #momtobe #babyboy #momlife #family #babyshower #birth #babybump #mom #weekspregnant #babies #maternityphotography #postpartum #photography #pregnantbelly #mumtobe #breastfeeding #maternityshoot #parenting #pregnancyannouncement #mama #infertility #bebe #heartwarming #love #positivenews #positivity #caring #globalpositivenews #onemillionactsofgood #news #positivenergy #kindness #heart #tanksgoodnews #positivepsychology #kindnessmatters #somegoodnews #actsofkindness #randomactsofkindness #beautiful #heartbroken #explore #goodnewsmovement #makeitviral #truelove #explorepage #hearttouching #cute #repost #relationshipgoals #stillstandingchallenge #sosickchallenge ♬ original sound – Awesome World The Birthday Boy Instantly Runs to Grab His Pregnant Wife The dad-to-be nearly knocks her over, and the pair share an excited embrace. There is no question that the thought of adding a baby to their family is a welcomed blessing. These two can’t wait to be parents. The excitement was contagious, and thousands of people commented with happy wishes for the couple. Someone wrote, “And at that moment, all of his birthday wishes came true.” “This is everything. He is a keeper,” another person commented. This person wanted the naysayers to go away, “People share happy news in their own way. For all those with negative comments, move on. Congratulations to y’all! This is a wonderful moment! I’m happy for y’all!” In a world where we hear about so many red flags, this video was a nice change of pace. “Green flags for all of you!! What an amazing bunch of people.” You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.

Books, podcasts, social media, and wellness influencers all seem to have their own formula for finding happiness. Most people have heard, more than once, to practice gratitude, meditate, exercise more, eat better, start a morning routine, or spend time in nature. None of this advice is bad. In fact, it’s backed by numerous studies that show these practices can make a positive difference. But these answers begin with the same assumption: that happiness is an individual pursuit. A new international study suggests the communities we live in matter a whole lot, too. Researchers analyzed responses from 97,220 people across 66 countries and identified five broad factors associated with happier societies. Friends enjoy a festival. Photo credit: Canva Creating a happy society involves more than personal happiness The study, published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, examined more than 200 social and psychological variables before narrowing its focus to 56 that were associated with happiness. One of the study’s biggest takeaways was that a society’s well-being can’t be explained simply by adding up the happiness of the people who live there. Lead author Ewa Palikot, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Psychology at the Polish Academy of Sciences, told PsyPost: “Meeting basic needs and having the freedom to work on personal goals are important, but so is the social environment in which we live. Societies are happier when they create conditions that benefit everyone, for example, by promoting equality, freedom of choice, trust, human rights, and institutions that work for the common good.” Happy Tiv drummers. Photo credit: Zasan Doshiyak/Wikimedia Commons 5 drivers of happiness The researchers grouped their findings into five drivers of happiness: individual emancipation, Enlightenment ideas and institutions, satisfying basic human needs, effective governing and security institutions, and community connectedness. Individual emancipation means the community advocates for equal rights, gender equality, acceptance of minority groups, and freedom for individuals to make autonomous choices. Interestingly, the researchers found that these values don’t necessarily make a person happy. Instead, inclusive societies raise happiness across the population. The second driver focused on Enlightenment ideas and institutions. A community that supports science, education, human rights, democracy, and critical thinking tended to score higher on both individual well-being and societal happiness. The third driver, meeting basic human needs, probably sounds familiar. Having access to food, housing, healthcare, and financial security remained one of the strongest predictors of personal happiness. The researchers noted that improving one person’s circumstances doesn’t automatically create a happier society for everyone else. The fourth driver involved effective governing and security institutions. When a community trusts the courts, police, and banks, people generally feel more secure in their daily lives. Again, the researchers found the benefit primarily operated at the individual level rather than across society as a whole. The fifth finding could be the most surprising. People who felt closely connected to their own neighborhoods and local communities tended to be happier. However, countries that placed stronger overall emphasis on close in-group ties actually reported lower societal happiness. Basically, having people you can count on is good for well-being. But when trust stops with family and immediate social circles and doesn’t extend to the wider community, trust in strangers declines, and the entire country may become less cohesive. A man on a solo climb. Photo credit: Canva Why do people believe happiness is an individual pursuit? If community plays an important role in our well-being, why does the pursuit of happiness so often focus on the individual? Mary McLaughlin, a psychotherapist in Virginia, told Upworthy it’s often easier to focus on ourselves than on the community around us. “We live in a culture that encourages and rewards independence, personal achievement and self-reliance,” said McLaughlin. “And let’s face it, it’s easier to do breathing exercises or write in a gratitude journal than it is to address food insecurity or affordable housing issues.” Dr. Suzi White, an assistant professor of education at the University of Cincinnati who researches happiness and social connection, says that belief is reinforced by the culture we’re surrounded by every day. “We live in a consumer society, where brands tell us that our happiness will improve when we buy their product. We receive messages daily that happiness is within our grasp,” White explained to Upworthy. “It then makes sense that we believe that through self-care, grit, extra effort (and maybe a purchase), we, too, can be happy.” Friends around a campfire. Photo credit: Canva What do these findings look like in real life for the average person? The good news is, building a happier community doesn’t require sweeping change. Sara Lichstein, a psychotherapist in California, shared with Upworthy, “For the average person, getting to know the people around you such as neighbors, people at your local stores or coffee shops, and feeling connected to a community, can all be wonderful ways to feel more connected and increase happiness.” She warns that when people focus on self-improvement, those efforts don’t necessarily diminish emotional distress and loneliness. “Research consistently demonstrates the importance of social support and its impacts on our overall health and well-being. Having social support helps manage stress, increase resilience, and contribute to an overall happier state,” Lichstein explained. White encourages investing time in your community as a pathway to happiness. “Anyone can help create a society where people’s basic needs are met by volunteering at organizations that provide services, voting, and advocating for policies that prioritize everyone’s well-being,” she said. “Investing your time in community is not a distraction from your happiness. It is a pathway to happiness.” The researchers are not arguing that individual happiness doesn’t matter. Basic needs, maintaining good health, and a sense of control over your own life remain essential to well-being. But the study suggests that creating conditions that benefit everyone may help explain why some societies are happier than others. Maybe happiness isn’t something we have to pursue alone. As White beautifully put it, “Consider how large your circle of care is, then widen it.” The post A study across 66 countries identified 5 things the happiest communities have in common appeared first on Upworthy.

Teaching is a career that can start young. New graduates are often tasked with leading a classroom in their very first year out of school. For high school, that means 21- or 22-year-olds are often teaching teenagers barely a few years younger than themselves. There’s an uncomfortable tension in these situations where boundaries can get blurry. All teachers, but especially younger teachers, have to learn quickly how to deal with students who get too chummy, or worse, overly flirtatious. High school teacher reveals mistake she made the first time a student hit on her Baylee Bretzing, a high school teacher and popular content creator, is 26 years old, married, and a mom. But that hasn’t stopped boys in her class from trying to flirt with her, especially back in her first year teaching. “I started teaching 17-year-olds as a 22-year-old,” she says in a recent TikTok video. “The first time it happened to me, I was shocked. I didn’t know what to do, so I just [laughed] and left the situation. Looking back, I wish I would have stood up for myself.” @baybretzing I’m definitely late to talking about this but I wanted to share some thoughts #teachersoftiktok #teachertok #haleybeck #boundaries #highschoolteacher ♬ original sound – Baylee Bretzing Setting boundaries as a young teacher She then offered some advice for the young teachers out there, admitting that it’s a reality that sometimes “high school boys try to hit on their teachers.” “You need to be loud and set your boundary in front of everybody,” Bretzing advises. “You stop in your tracks and you say loudly and seriously, ‘You say that one more time and I will kick you out of my class.'” Why not handle it privately or simply brush it off? Bretzing says that not only is the boundary important, setting the example of how to set it is a valuable lesson for her other students. “First of all, it sets a boundary. Second of all, it’s an example for the girls in your class of how not to be talked to.” Of course, it’s not just female teachers and male students. This is a problematic dynamic that defies gender, age, and even physical appearance. Megan Rotar, a psychologist, told Metro Parent, “Teachers, to students, are almost like celebrities. They are there to be supportive and help the students in learning and facilitate their growth. Sometimes the teachers will fulfill a need the student has, and that can lead to a crush.” Whether it’s a crush, trolling, teasing, or flirting for fun, teachers like Bretzing have to be ironclad in the boundaries they set, or the consequences can be disastrous. Teachers and experts are split on how to handle inappropriate comments Attraction, crushes, or flirting from students toward teachers is an inevitability, but there’s no one consensus on the best way to handle it. Bretzing has made her position clear: shut it down loudly, clearly, and, ideally, publicly. Her approach prevents others from trying anything inappropriate in the future and sets an example on how to hold personal boundaries. Many commenters on the now-viral video agreed: “I remember my first year of teaching at 21 and a senior boy invited me to his 18th birthday and all the kids in the class stared going ‘oooh’ and laughing. I didn’t smile or laugh, I immediately said ‘I’m not your peer or your bro, I’m your teacher and I expect to be treated that way.’ Never happened again in that class. Just don’t entertain it AT ALL” “Setting examples for the girls is so important! You’re a rockstar” “As a young high school teacher you have to set such strong boundaries. I told them straight off the bat that I am a mother and I see them as kids. I will parent them if I need too and yes they’re older high schoolers 16-18. The girls saw me at first as their bff and the guys were trying to be all nice and I was [like]… I’m Mom in this classroom I’m not the cool young teacher.” “This is the best take I’ve seen so far. That’s EXACTLY right. We are the adults, we have to set the boundaries and be firm. They are children and will push but we are responsible for teaching them NO. You’re amazing!” Other experts prefer to operate more delicately, either by ignoring the behavior, pulling a student aside for a one-on-one chat, or involving the parents and administrators if gentler approaches don’t work. They say humiliating a student can be really damaging. Ultimately, it’s a delicate situation that’s context-dependent. In Bretzing’s example, comments that are sexual, rude, or attention-seeking deserve a harsher response than mild fawning, for example. Every teacher will have to draw their own line. View this post on Instagram It’s a delicate scenario One thing a lot of teachers agree on is that education and training simply don’t prepare them for the uncomfortable reality of students being attracted to teachers close to their age. Education degrees cover academic and classroom management, but don’t often tackle the crucial topic of personal boundaries with students. It’s a tricky subject made fraught by bad stories in the news, but the unwillingness to talk about it makes things even more difficult for the well-meaning teachers who are struggling. One young teacher recently went viral because too many of her students were developing crushes and making her uncomfortable, so much so that she was considering leaving the profession. Unfortunately, it is part of the job, but it’s also a great opportunity to teach kids about boundaries. One day, they will need to know how to respect and enforce their own. The post Young high school teacher’s response to getting hit on by students sets a brilliant example appeared first on Upworthy.

Imagine yourself on Cape Cod on a bright summer afternoon. The water looks perfect: glassy, blue, reflecting the clouds like it’s a computer screensaver. Suddenly, a dozen or so women burst onto the scene. Not one is a day under 65, and they’re zipping themselves into wetsuits and spitting into their masks (to prevent fogging) before slipping beneath that pretty blue surface to retrieve all the secrets the pond’s been hiding: beer cans, golf balls, a car tire, and once, an 80-pound toilet. Who are these silver-haired, litter-busting sirens?  Meet the elite squad known as the “Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage” (OLAUG), a Cape Cod nonprofit made up of senior women who kayak, free-dive, and pull submerged trash out of freshwater ponds. They’re really good at it, too: By their own estimation, OLAUG has removed roughly 6,000 pounds of waste since the group’s founding in 2017. There are requirements to join, of course: Be a woman. Be at least 64 years old. Pass a swim test. (Tryouts are held in the spring, and members must be able to swim half a mile in under 30 minutes and free-dive to a minimum depth of 8 feet.) The magic lies within the first two prerequisites. Many of the group’s members arrive at OLAUG in search of something: identity, friends, purpose, excitement, joie de vivre. Rarely, trash. “By the time a woman is in her late 60s, she has experienced loss. People in our group have lost breasts, homes, husbands, and wealth,” says OLAUG’s 85-year-old founder, Susan Baur. “They are in the age of gratitude.” It started with turtles, not trash Baur is a retired psychologist who settled on Cape Cod in her early sixties and learned to love its ponds after deciding the open Atlantic was too dangerous  to swim in. She got attached to the ponds’ snapping turtles, giving them names like “Mr. Spot” and “Silver Patches.” This was strictly for practical reasons, she assures, claiming she needed a way to “distinguish them” in her mind. As more visitors arrived at the turtle pond, she tried everything to protect their habitat, from signs to homemade “turtle housing,” but nothing worked. Frustrated, Baur headed to the pond in 2017 and waved down a man in a yellow kayak, dropped a laundry basket between his legs, and the two of them—plus a couple of friends—fished out a haul of golf balls, cans, and bottles. Someone in the group joked they were “a bunch of old ladies against underwater garbage.” The name stuck. This is a serious operation (that refuses to take itself seriously) Yes, the group has a goofy name. But don’t underestimate them: the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage mean serious business. Before each dive, ponds are systematically scouted and assessed, then verified with local pond coalitions to ensure they’re ready to be cleaned. Waters are tested for harmful blue-green algae and the toxins produced by its blooms, which can harm people, pets, and wildlife. On dive day, the roles are assigned, with each diver covering an area of expertise. Walkie-talkies are passed out, and safety protocols are carefully reviewed. A “beach boss” is at the helm of the operation, handling logistics and checking swimmers in and out of the water. The women gear up for battle, donning swimsuits, water shoes, swim caps, and wetsuits. Sunscreen and hats are in no short supply. View this post on Instagram Then the ladies get to work. “It’s kind of a treasure hunt for stuff that’s not supposed to be there,” Baur told WBZ-TV. A wildlife lookout swims point, steering everyone around snapping turtles. Divers plunge; kayakers collect. OLAUG cleans around 20 ponds a season, which runs from May through early October, and the water is cold enough that swimmers surface “mottled blue,” teeth chattering, grinning anyway. These women are as tough as the nails they extract from the ponds’ depths. “It’s just the best thing in the world, it really is,” said Susan Dropo, a member from Sandwich, Massachusetts. “[OLAUG] what we all didn’t know we needed, and every time we get together, it’s a blast.” Men can be helpful, but not in the water. As Baur put it, OLAUG’s male volunteers are welcome to “run the kayaks or bake cookies,” but they are not invited to swim. (They’re “too competitive,” she said.) Which brings up how the group gets paid: When pond associations offer to pay for OLAUG’s cleaning services, the group refuses cash but will happily work for cookies and hot chocolate. The ‘Old Ladies’ hit a flow state Somewhere in the pond’s blue waters, the women of OLAUG reach a flow state. “We’re addicted to vitality. We’re addicted to putting our finger in the socket of life,” said Baur. “The more ponds we clean up, the more enthusiastic we get, the happier we get, and it just revitalizes us every dive.”  For a few members, these expeditions have caused them to think differently about nature and their relationship to it. In an interview with the Cape Cod Times, Robin Melavalin recalls her first plunge into the pond and how she was struck by a “natural connection and desire” to keep this freshwater environment clean. “I have seen trash at ponds, but I was enveloped by the whole underwater experience as I became aware of the trash beneath the surface and saw it for myself,” she remembers. A pond in Massachusetts. Photo credit: Aldon Hynes/Flickr When the divers put on their masks, “there’s not one woman who’s thinking about what she’s making for dinner that night,” explained Baur. “You are totally out of your own head, immersed in the experience.” In a way, this form of free-diving acts as a spiritual practice: “We wade out of the water wetter, kinder, happier, and more empowered women,” she continued. “It’s the Zen of trash picking.” There are about 30 members in OLAUG now, ranging in age from 64 to 85. Everyone seems to want a spot, too. Its waitlist has grown so long that recent joiners admitted to begging their way in. Why it actually matters Cape Cod is home to nearly 900 freshwater ponds, and pollution in them is a problem. Baur describes hauls that include hazardous waste—”spent fireworks that are leaking perchlorates and car batteries”—and, in general, a lot of stuff that “really shouldn’t be there.” Golf balls pose a unique problem, too: Research teams at the Danish Golf Union discovered that it takes between 100 and 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. When submerged underwater, it releases a “high quantity of heavy metals” and “dangerous levels of zinc” while breaking down. A basket of golf balls. Photo credit: Jocelyn Naubert/Flickr For our ladies in wetsuits, it’s difficult to measure the impact of OLAUG’s trash expeditions. But that’s almost beside the point. One member, Maggie Megaw, put it this way to The New York Times: “We are surrounded by so many really intractable problems. The water quality issues on Cape Cod are really serious, and the solutions have such a far horizon… [OLAUG’s work] is so tangible and immediate. We show up at the pond and swim, and we bring back a big pile of trash.” The psychology hiding in a snorkel Baur spent her career as a psychologist, so it’s only fitting that her “retirement project”—for which she’s earned a climate resiliency hero award from the American Red Cross of Massachusetts and was named to the 2025 class of the Explorers Club 50 (which honors people changing the world)—reads like an accidental study in aging well. She didn’t set out to build a wellness program. But anyone in her profession would recognize the importance of an organization like OLAUG, particularly for women over 65.  In 2022, Marci Johnson found her way to the group amid a year marked by trauma. She had recently lost her husband, then discovered she had developed breast cancer. “I had tried other volunteer things,” Johnson explained on NPR’s Morning Edition. From stuffing envelopes to planting trees to picking up trash on the side of the road, “None of them gave me that sense of adventure,” she said. View this post on Instagram OLAUG was different. Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by strong women, similar in age, who understood her grief. The baby snapping turtles gave her a renewed sense of purpose. “As I aged, I had the feeling of being invisible. When you get to be in your 60s, 70s, 80s, you just kind of fade into the background,” said Johnson. Then she laughs. “But with the work that we’re doing, I’m not in the background anymore.” Lisa Weiss, a retired high school math teacher, shared a similar sentiment. “I don’t quilt, I don’t crochet, that’s not how I’m going to fit in as I age,” she said. “This feeds you in a different way.” Finding your own pond The Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage didn’t wait for permission, funding, or approval from anyone but themselves. Baur and her crew of divers looked at their little corner of the world and asked, “How can we make this better?” When they found the answer, they slapped on a snorkel, hopped in the water, and went diving. And now, as the group grows larger, its members are starting to discover, one pond at a time, that the trash was never the point—not fully. With every bucket of balls, pound of garbage, and bright blue toilet unearthed from the depths, they’re also pulling up proof: that you can be strong, still be useful, and surprise yourself, no matter what age you are. Your pond is out there. It’s filled with your version of snapping turtles. Whatever your version of freshly baked cookies is on the other side, waiting to reward you. So whatever you’ve been telling yourself you’re too old to start, first consider: What would OLAUG think? The post ‘Old Ladies’ are free-diving on Cape Cod. They’ve excavated 6,000 pounds of trash. appeared first on Upworthy.