Category: Lifestyle

His whole life, 36-year-old David Thomas of Bessemer, Alabama dreamed of going to the beach. He was born with cerebral palsy and thought he would never get to see the ocean for himself.

But thanks to the kind hearts of his church family, David’s dream finally came true.

“It took me years to get here but God made a way for me to get here,” David told WJHG News. “I never imagined it looking like this, but it’s beautiful. I love it and don’t want to go home.”

David was taken to the beautiful beaches in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Sitting with his toes in the sugar white sand for the first time and listening to the sounds of crashing waves, a flood of emotion came over him.

“By you being disabled, you just don’t find too many people that take out time with you and willing to help you,” David tearfully said. “I just feel so good because I haven’t been anywhere since I was 15 years old so I’m having the time of my life right now.”

David said he has only left his hometown in Alabama one other time in his life and that was for a school field trip 20 years ago.

“If I never experience this again, I’m going to enjoy it right now and live in the moment and thank God for what it is,” he said.

Check out the video below.

Lottie Cutcher, the person behind the instagram account, ‘colourisedphotographs’ has coloured photographers to show a more accurate picture of how people took shelter in the London Underground throughout the early 1940s.

In her own words, Lottie said:

I chose to colourise a series of photographs from the Blitz during World War Two. The original images are so interesting, and I find it surreal that people took shelter in all sorts of places whilst the war was happening around their homes. I hope that by doing this, I can reinforce that people over 75 years ago looked and felt just the same as we do today. Hope you enjoy them!

The Blitz was a bombing raid during 1940 and 1941, which happened almost daily. During these times, Londoners were encouraged to take cover in the stations and tunnels of the London Underground overnight.

The British government initially were concerned that people would be too afraid to leave the tube and would not come out through the day to help work towards the war effort.

However, many had nowhere to go, so they relented.

Around 150,000 people slept in the tube every night, a total of 177,000 people spent the night on the underground on the 27th September 1940.

The stations were far from safe, however. Thousands of people were killed from direct hits on the stations.

In March 1943, 173 people were killed in a crush at Bethnal Green station, after a woman panicked and slipped whilst entering the station via the stairs.

Some felt safer sleeping with the noise of the bombing above more muffled as they slept, so headed further into the stations and tunnels.

The German society for Mechatronics have recently given the award for outstanding work in the field of mechatronics. All across Germany, universities were asked to submit their best bachelor theses.

The most interesting of the inventions was created by the winner of the first place prize. 25 year old Philip Frenzel created an ingenious idea to develop an airbag for a mobile phone!

Frenzel said his goal was to not compromise the aesthetic of the phone with an ugly protective shell, and instead have something that only deploys when the phone is in danger.

To achieve this, he created a mechanism with sensors able to detect when the phone is free falling and quickly activate before it hits the surface.

The curled metal legs lie flat inside the case, however once released they pop out to soften the blow of the fall, protecting the phone from impact.

The project is to be financed by crowdfunding on Kickstarter in July!

Check out the video below.

Cindi Allen-Stewart wrote a post on Facebook about using shaving cream to treat sunburn and she swears it works better than aloe or any other product designed to treat sunburn.

Her post has over 220,000 shares and close to 50,000 comments. This is what she wrote:

“If you’re like me, you hate getting sunburned. No matter how much sunscreen you put on, some people just burn anyway. I recently told a friend about a sunburn treatment that works wonders! She told me she had never heard about it, so I figured I’d make a post because I was sunburned recently. Usually, it takes just a couple days from start to finish, but this takes the heat out of it fast and makes it more comfortable on you.

I found out about this from my husband. His mom used to do this to him when he ended up with a sunburn.

First, buy you some Menthol foam shaving cream. It has to be the foam and it has to have menthol in it. We found Gillette shaving cream on Amazon since we had problems finding menthol foam in stores. We ended up buying 6 cans of it, but it works out because we live in Texas and sunburns happen a lot. (Plus, we have given a couple cans to friends.)

Next, apply the shaving cream on the burn. It may seem like it’s a strange shaving ritual, but trust me! Don’t rub it in, just let it sit on your skin. It will start bringing all that heat out (you’ll be able to feel it). You may feel like you are itchy too, but that’s a good thing! Itching means healing.

Then, after about 30 minutes, the shaving cream will seem like it has dissolved in spots. It will seem like it’s not as moist and a little dried out. You will feel as if you’re becoming a little cold, at least on the sunburned part of your body. THAT IS A GOOD SIGN!

Next, rinse it off in a lukewarm or cool shower or bath. It’s just to get the residue off.

Finally, if you still need it, do it again the next day. Usually after that second treatment, the sunburn disappears.

The pictures show my treatment. The final picture was taken the third day after my sunburn. I slept great after the first treatment and when my shoulders still felt hot from the burn the next day, I had another coating of shaving cream on just my shoulders. I have not had any peeling either. I use this on my kids too!”

“Let me just clear up a few things.

I am not allergic to aloe, but my husband has a sensitivity to it and can not use it. Yes, aloe does help too, but I think this way with the shaving cream is a lot faster.

Also, I am not saying it has to be Gillette. That’s just the brand that I happened to have on hand. It just has to be a MENTHOL FOAM shaving cream. Not gel! It can be any brand as we’ve used multiple brands and had the same result.

Lastly, it’s not just 30 minutes and done. It’s 30 minutes, rinse. The next day, if you still feel hot areas of a burn, reapply. Then wait another 30 minutes and rinse. It will look as if it’s dissolved and dried out a bit. That’s just how the shaving cream is. It has nothing to do with the burn, it just gives you a visual idea of what 30 minutes would look like. It still takes a day after the last application to show you a significant difference.

I stand by this method. If you want to try it, go for it! If not, that’s fine too! I just figured I’d help my friends out a bit to show them the way I use. I have used it for about 10 years and have never had an issue with it. I always get the same result.”

When it comes to improving your mental health, many have turned to mindfulness and meditation.

A new study shows both practices actually may not have much more benefits than watching a David Attenborough documentary!

The lead psychologist at Coventry University, Maguel Farias, worked alongside scientists from the Netherlands and New Zealand, to test which methods did and did not lead to self-improvement.

After 22 separate trials, no convincing evidence was found to show that either mindfulness or meditation promoted either open-mindedness, or empathy. Simply jogging and watching TV showed just as effective, with certain programmes proving to be more successful at this.The researchers then looked at previous studies that compared both techniques, known for helping people concentrate, to other activities not thought of a similar light!
In a paper written for Scientific Reports, the team found that those studied were often written by people who hosted classes and made money from the practices, leading to probably biased outcomes

The truth is that despite them showing mindfulness lead to an increase in compassion, there was no particular advantage over practicing it over watching documentaries – such as those narrated by Attenborough, it was found.

Farias thus concluded that methods such as mindfulness and meditation show no effect that is measurable beyond the placebo effect after their teacher tells someone what to expect.
The psychologist compared the technique taught in sometimes-pricey classes to a religion and warned against ‘implicit magical beliefs’ in meditation.

Due to the rise of mindfulness and it’s increasing popularity, there has been many studies done looking into the practice in recent months. Some are negative are find it may make people more ‘selfish’ and self-orientated, whilst another caused controversy after claiming it will improve your sex life!

Personally we think we’ll stick to documentaries…

Over on Reddit, wholesomeness seems to be spreading like wildfire! Especially on the AskReddit subreddit.

The question posed was:

Women of Reddit, what has been your worst ‘nice guy’ experience?

Of course, we got the usual answers you’d expect in regards to nice guys, but one was really heartwarming!

In the words of the Reddit user ThrowAwayForPancakes:

So, possibly one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I mean you know how you hear the “women want him, men want to be him” stuff in old movies? Well I’m a man and by god I wanted to be this guy. Anyway!

I’m having dinner with my girlfriend at the time, and behind us are a couple on a date. It is.. not going well. Guy was being rather creepy and making some pretty inappropriate comments, the girl doesn’t look at all comfortable.

The girl finishes her appetiser really quickly, my guess is she wanted to get it over with. Guy proceeds to comment on it and says “well, least I know you can swallow right?”. Loudly.

Girl goes red and tells him that isn’t appropriate, he literally waves his hand in a “shoo” type motion and says “oh calm down I was going to find out in a few hours anyway”.

I missed her exact reply as she moved to a hushed tone, but it was fairly obvious what was being said – fuck no, fuck off, fuck this. He responded with “sweetheart I picked you up, I know where you live”. She lost the colour in her face and said nothing.

No. No. Fuck no. I’m one of those “get involved” type of people and there is no way I’m sitting here watching this go down. I get up. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m 23, fighting fit and happy to put that motherfucker through a wall. I may have had a slight temper in my youth. But anyway.

I was halfway out of my chair when a hand came down on my shoulder and I look up to this mid-50s but super fit guy who says “Easy.. I’ve got this one son”. Absolute, total confidence in his voice.. so seeing as my current plan amounted to “stab him in the neck” and I’m already thinking maybe that’s not the best idea, I sit down.

He walks over, grabs a nearby chair, flips it around and sits down with the couple. Then.. he pulls out his police ID and puts it on the table. Now the guy doesn’t have any colour in his face.

Cop: “So, I’m quietly celebrating my daughters birthday with my family when I distinctly hear you threaten this young lady, would you care to explain yourself?”

Guy: “I, ah, well, um, you see..”

Cop: “That’s what I thought. Now see, we take a very dim view of that kind of thing, so right now I’m deciding if I want to have some of my buddies come pick you up.”

Guy: “oh no well that…”

Cop: “But that would disrupt everyone’s dinner, so how about you hand me your ID, because I wouldn’t want you running off on me, then you go see one of the staff here and settle your bill.. the full bill now, this young lady shouldn’t go hungry on account of your poor behaviour. Or we can go with the first option, I’ll leave it up to you.”

Guy: “No no! That’s perfectly fine!” *hands over ID, gets up and walks very quickly in the direction of the counter*

Cop: *while writing down the guys details* “Sorry about that miss, I hope I’m not intruding it just seemed like you could use some help. Oh and don’t worry, if you want to pursue this further I’ll have some of the boys pick him up on his way home, we can definitely take this further.”

Girl: “No, thank you so much, I wanted to run out 30 minutes ago but he drove me here”.

Cop: *shifts from hardarse cop to comforting father figure in about half a second* “Well I’m here with my daughter, she’s about your age, perhaps you’d like to finish your meal with us? We can run you home afterwards if you’d like, unless you’d prefer to call someone else?”

Girl: “Oh.. that would be really nice.. thankyou so much!”

*guy returns, so does the hardarse cop*

Guy: “Uh so, I’ve paid the bill, if I could have my ID back..”.

Cop: “There you go.. now I have your details right here so I highly recommend you don’t go near or contact this young lady ever again.”

Guy: “Yes yes of course, I’m so sorry!”

The guy pretty much fled the restaurant, the girl went and sat with the cop and his family and by the time we left they were still sitting around talking and laughing about random crap.

It was hands down the best way I have ever seen anybody handle any situation, ever. That cop is my hero.

Sheila O’Malley, a writer and film critic in New York City, fell into a depression after her father passed away. She moved into a new apartment, but for months she couldn’t find the strength to unpack. Then one of her friends checked in on her.

Sheila shared what happened next in a series of Tweets in hopes that she can inspire others “not to wait” and reach out to friends who might need a little help, or a little kindness. Or just need to know that they’re loved…

Posted on Twitter:

The year after my dad died was so bad I don’t remember 90% of it. I moved to a new apt and was unable to unpack. For MONTHS. I was ashamed I couldn’t unpack. How can you be UNABLE to unpack? Just open the g.d. boxes. That was the year I cried for 19 days. Straight.

My good friend David – whom I’ve known since high school – knew I was struggling and he felt helpless. He said “you are loved” “we need you”. I was like, “Doesn’t matter, but thanks.” So he took a risk. It very well could have ended badly. I could have lashed out.

I could have been really REALLY offended. But he took the risk. He sent out an email to a group of local friends (w/out my knowledge) and said, “Sheila is struggling. She needs our help. Let’s all go over there and unpack her apartment for her. Bring food. Let’s make it fun.”

David sent me an email saying “will you be home Thursday night? Can I stop by?” I said “Sure.” Sitting surrounded by 200 unpacked boxes.

At 6 pm on Thursday night the doorbell rang and 10 of my friends barged in, bearing platters of food, cleaning products, and complete unconcern for my ‘wait … you CAN’T COME IN HERE I HAVEN’T UNPACKED YET” protestations. They ignored me and got to work.

They unpacked my boxes. They put away my 1,500 books. They hung pictures for me. They organized my closet and put away all my clothes. Meanwhile, someone set up a taco-making station in the kitchen. People brought beer. By the end of the night, my apartment was all set up.

I literally was unable to do THE SIMPLEST THINGS. And nobody judged me. They were like superheroes sweeping in. One friend arrived late, stood in the hallway, looked at me and said, “PUT ME TO WORK.”

One of my friends basically took over hanging all of my posters and pictures. “I’m really good at measuring stuff. Let me put all these up in your hallway.” I hovered, not wanting to give up control: “wait … put that one there maybe?” She said, “Go away.”

I did.

And she was so much better at hanging stuff than I was! Here are my friends putting away my books.

Here’s a break for dinner. Please note that my friend Sheila’s dinner plate is resting on my DVD player.

I was overwhelmed at the sight of all of my crazy friends turning themselves into Santa’s workshop. On my behalf. W/out asking me. They just showed up and barged in. I was embarrassed for like 10 minutes but they were all so practical and bossy I had no choice but to let that go.

At the end of the night, I looked at my friend’s husband – a quiet tactiturn guy who drives a tugboat on the Hudson – practical, man of few words – and I just looked at him, speechless, not knowing how to say Thank You, especially to this tough resilient self-sufficient man.

He looked at me, saw the look on my face, understood the look, understood everything that was behind it – and said, “Listen, baby, what we did today was a barn-raising.”

That’s the end. The “ask for help” advice is well-meaning but not really thought through. There’s shame, there’s enforced helplessness, there’s the feeling you’re not worth it, etc. My friends didn’t wait for me to ask. They showed up. They took over. They didn’t ask.

When they all swept out of there 4 hours later, my place was a home. Not only was everything put away – but now it had a memory attached to it, a group memory, friends, laughing, dirty jokes, hard work. These are the kinds of friends I have.

Be that kind of friend to others.

In the wake of more celebrity suicides, a Facebook post that uses snow shoveling as an analogy for the daily struggles of living with depression is making the mental health disorder easier to understand.

“Now Anthony Bourdain.

When you have depression it’s like it snows every day.

Some days it’s only a couple of inches. It’s a pain in the ass, but you still make it to work, the grocery store. Sure, maybe you skip the gym or your friend’s birthday party, but it IS still snowing and who knows how bad it might get tonight. Probably better to just head home. Your friend notices, but probably just thinks you are flaky now, or kind of an a**hole.

Some days it snows a foot. You spend an hour shoveling out your driveway and are late to work. Your back and hands hurt from shoveling. You leave early because it’s really coming down out there. Your boss notices.

Some days it snows four feet. You shovel all morning but your street never gets plowed. You are not making it to work, or anywhere else for that matter. You are so sore and tired you just get back in the bed. By the time you wake up, all your shoveling has filled back in with snow. Looks like your phone rang; people are wondering where you are. You don’t feel like calling them back, too tired from all the shoveling. Plus they don’t get this much snow at their house so they don’t understand why you’re still stuck at home. They just think you’re lazy or weak, although they rarely come out and say it.

Some weeks it’s a full-blown blizzard. When you open your door, it’s to a wall of snow. The power flickers, then goes out. It’s too cold to sit in the living room anymore, so you get back into bed with all your clothes on. The stove and microwave won’t work so you eat a cold Pop Tart and call that dinner. You haven’t taken a shower in three days, but how could you at this point? You’re too cold to do anything except sleep.

Sometimes people get snowed in for the winter. The cold seeps in. No communication in or out. The food runs out. What can you even do, tunnel out of a forty foot snow bank with your hands? How far away is help? Can you even get there in a blizzard? If you do, can they even help you at this point? Maybe it’s death to stay here, but it’s death to go out there too.

The thing is, when it snows all the time, you get worn all the way down. You get tired of being cold. You get tired of hurting all the time from shoveling, but if you don’t shovel on the light days, it builds up to something unmanageable on the heavy days. You resent the hell out of the snow, but it doesn’t care, it’s just a blind chemistry, an act of nature. It carries on regardless, unconcerned and unaware if it buries you or the whole world.

Also, the snow builds up in other areas, places you can’t shovel, sometimes places you can’t even see. Maybe it’s on the roof. Maybe it’s on the mountain behind the house. Sometimes, there’s an avalanche that blows the house right off its foundation and takes you with it. A veritable Act of God, nothing can be done. The neighbors say it’s a shame and they can’t understand it; he was doing so well with his shoveling.

I don’t know how it went down for Anthony Bourdain or Kate Spade. It seems like they got hit by the avalanche, but it could’ve been the long, slow winter. Maybe they were keeping up with their shoveling. Maybe they weren’t. Sometimes, shoveling isn’t enough anyway. It’s hard to tell from the outside, but it’s important to understand what it’s like from the inside.

I firmly believe that understanding and compassion have to be the base of effective action. It’s important to understand what depression is, how it feels, what it’s like to live with it, so you can help people both on an individual basis and a policy basis. I’m not putting heavy shit out here to make your Friday morning suck. I know it feels gross to read it, and realistically it can be unpleasant to be around it, that’s why people pull away.

I don’t have a message for people with depression like ‘keep shoveling’. It’s asinine. Of course you’re going to keep shoveling the best you can, until you physically can’t, because who wants to freeze to death inside their own house? We know what the stakes are. My message is to everyone else. Grab a f***ing shovel and help your neighbor. Slap a mini snow plow on the front of your truck and plow your neighborhood. Petition the city council to buy more salt trucks, so to speak.

Depression is blind chemistry and physics, like snow. And like the weather, it is a mindless process, powerful and unpredictable with great potential for harm. But like climate change, that doesn’t mean we are helpless. If we want to stop losing so many people to this disease, it will require action at every level.

– Anonymous”

Remember the story about a friendship that began at a grocery store between a little girl and an elderly man?

They taught us that unexpected things can happen just at the right time.

And the story only gets better.

First, let’s refresh your memory. In late September of 2016, Tara Wood shared the heartwarming story on her Facebook page:

We made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up cupcakes for Norah’s birthday.

She was sitting in one of those carts that look like a car or truck or whatever when an older gentleman walked by. We’d passed several other elderly customers but she seemed magnetically drawn to this man.

Her face lit up like the sun, she waved excitedly, and said “Hi old person! It’s my birfday today!”

He was furrow browed but his expression softened when he realized she was speaking to him.

“Well hello little lady! And how old are you today?” he asked. They chatted for a few seconds and it was super adorable.

We said ‘goodbye’ and carried on shopping.

A few minutes later she turned and asked “Can I take a picture with the old man for my birfday?”

Uh, it was the cutest damn thing ever.

I knew he couldn’t have gone very far so we back tracked until we found him.

“Excuse me, sir? She’d like to know if you’d take a photo with her for her birthday?” I asked.

He looked confused and then stunned and then delighted.

“A photo? With me?” he asked.

“Yes suh! For my birfday!” Norah exclaimed.

And so they posed together and then they hugged each other like they were long lost friends.

We thanked ‘Mr. Dan’ for taking time to spend a few minutes of his day with us.

He teared up and said “No, thank YOU. This has been the best day I’ve had in a long time. You’ve made me so happy, Ms. Norah.”

Sometimes talking to strangers turns into the most beautiful thing in the world.

That moment changed everything.

Two years later, the unlikely duo are inseperable.

Steve Hartman has their heartwarming story “On The Road”:

Check it out!