Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another issue of the world's most positive newsletter. My goal by the end? To have you feeling a little bit like this: 

I hope you have a fantastic rest of the week, and a happy and safe Halloween to anyone celebrating. As always, let me know which stories and sections are your favorites. I read every email and love hearing from you!🥰

- Kailyn

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today's newsletter takes ~3.41 minutes to read (908 words).

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I trust that everything is working out for my good.

Five years ago, Deltra James was diagnosed with stage 4 triple-negative metastatic breast cancer. The mom of five had just started preparing her curriculum for another homeschooling year when her world was flipped upside down.

• “I wasn’t familiar with the term ‘metastatic,” she shared with the Washington Post of her diagnosis, “But I understood what Stage 4 meant, and there isn’t a Stage 5.” 
• She was only 33.

When the going gets tough... While her diagnosis didn’t look promising, Deltra has spent the last five years focusing on finding every ounce of joy that she can.

• She prioritizes time with her daughters every day. She left her toxic marriage soon after starting chemotherapy and has started dating again despite her illness. She takes part in and volunteers for cancer support communities and camps around the country. And most recently, she threw a five-year “Cancerversary” disco-party extravaganza.

Welcome to the Disco: Deltra wasn’t even sure she would live five-years following her diagnosis, so the fact that she's still here is something major to celebrate. 

She marked the milestone by inviting her close family and friends to boogie the night away at a 1970’s-themed disco party.

• Deltra walked into the venue strutting to Elton John’s I’m Still Standing, before greeting the people closest to her on this journey, including her dad, daughters, and boyfriend of three years.
• The cancer-fighter and her guests had a soul train line around the venue, chowed down on cupcakes adorned with pink disco balls, and shared their favorite memories together.

“I feel so popular today,” Deltra gushed the day of the party. “I knew I wanted to celebrate this day and making it this far.”

❤️‍🩹 Looking ahead... While Deltra knows she is approaching the end of her life, she’s taking this time to ensure her daughters know how loved they are, and are set up for success after her passing. She’s also pouring as much joy and care as she can into her relationships while she’s still Earth-side.

One final word of advice from the empowered mom: “We should not be waiting for funerals to say lovely things to the people we care about!”

27,000 trees are cut down each day for toilet paper. That felt like way too many, so the female-founded brand, honeycomb, created luxury 3-ply toilet tissue made from bamboo. It feels just like regular high-end TP, but doesn’t harm trees.

• 🎍Why bamboo? It grows insanely fast – nearly 100x faster than the average tree – making it a sustainable option to save forests.
• ⏩ Bamboo has uniquely short fibers, which are perfect for creating soft toilet tissue you can feel good about.
• 🙌 Biodegradable and always 100% plastic-free, honeycomb delivers straight to you.

For the next 24 hours, honeycomb is giving DONUT readers 30% off your first order with code DONUT30.

In 2006, 150,000 yellow rubber duckies were released in the River Liffey in Dublin as part of the Charity World Duck Race Ireland. 

Most of them made it to the finish line 1 kilometer away, but a few went rogue – including this little guy👆.

18 years later... The duckie shown above was found in early 2024 on the island of Stronsay in Scotland – 423 miles away from where it started. 

🐥 Bottom line: Who knows what the...duck the duck has been up to for the last nearly two decades. But after the long journey, he's found a permanent home on the finder's shelves.

+This story was originally published in Positive DONUT in May 2024. It was so sweet, we had to share it again.

🇺🇸 Honoring a forgotten soldier… Two teenage girls spent months researching and solving the mystery of American Civil War soldier Daniel Walterhouse, who died in 1910 and was buried in an unmarked grave. Kendall Peruzzini and Mary McCormick have successfully located where the Union Army soldier was laid to rest all those years ago, and commissioned a headstone to be made and placed in his honor. “It was sad to think of all he’d been through in his life, and he didn’t even have a headstone,” Kendall told WaPo. Mary continued: “We thought it would be an honor to help him get the respect and recognition he deserved. Like a lot of Civil War veterans, he had a hard life."

🌳 Who says hospitals have to be sterile and unwelcoming? The Kinderspital in Zurich is redefining what childrens' hospitals look and feel like. With modern wooden architecture, greenery, marble sculptures, and, more importantly, a spa-like sanctuary for families to relax and decompress after rigorous treatments, the hospital may be the blueprint for the healing of the future.

🐻 A world traveler… Paddington Bear’s newest movie has the teddy traveling across the pond to Peru. In honor of the upcoming film, Paddington received an official British passport, issued and approved by British authorities.

Meditation is a simple and effective way to take care of yourself. The act of mindfully sitting with ourselves and our breath can have some amazing effects. 

🥰 So, what are you waiting for? Try out this quick self-love meditation for an instant boost of acceptance and love for yourself. I promise you'll feel amazing after. 

Try it out here.

When you’re organized, it’s far easier to focus and stay on task which in turn skyrockets productivity and creativity. It also saves time for the things in life that matter most.

Our secret weapon to stay organized? Niphtio.

• 🖱️ Save articles, videos, and more with just one click
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• 📝 Attach notes for key takeaways and prioritization
• 📲 Accessible from any browser on any device

Whether it’s research for work, school, or hobbies, Niphtio is the simple-to-use tool to stay ahead of your workload and free up precious time.

Niphtio is free - get it here.

Welcome to What’s Your Win, the section of the newsletter where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here withing our Positive DONUT community. WIth 23,000+ of you, there are good things to celebrate all around us!

Check out the submissions we received this week.

🙏 Megan H. from Virginia is finding hope for the future…

• “My father was diagnosed at 59 with a rare terminal lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis which has no cure or known cause. He has never smoked and the life expectancy of this terminal illness is 3-5 years. As a small business owner with private insurance, he will not live to reach Medicare coverage. This has been devastating on my family and he has had to use the money from his retirement funds to pay for these experimental treatments. He was one of four participants accepted last week into a clinical trial at Duke for this disease which covers his medication, treatment, travel, and expenses. We now have hope that he will take part in finding a cure and prolonging his life.”

❤️ Dawn A. from Illinois is making a major comeback…

• “Towards the end of last year, I'd fallen back into a deep depression, and immediately fell into my comfort of food, eating & drinking what I wanted, when I wanted, and how much I wanted. I ended up putting on over 60 pounds in no more than 4 months, and my health was affected immediately & I had to begin taking more medication than ever before. On top of that, I had a short hospital stay due to a case of diverticulitis (my first) that became severe due to my ignoring it until I couldn't any longer. Fast forward to this week; I've lost about 22lbs since the beginning of the year, I've lowered both my A1C & Glucose to where I'm no longer diabetic (pre, but working on it!), and my appetite has all but disappeared so I don't want to eat constantly anymore. Medication has helped my tiredness & weakness, and this is my favorite season! I knew I could bounce back...again...and I did, without even really thinking about it.”

Whether you had an energizing conversation with a friend, beat a sickness, met a milestone at work, or booked a trip you were always dreaming about, we want to hear about it. 

There is always something to be grateful for, and no win too small. And who knows? Sharing a bit of positivity from your own life could inspire someone else to recognize the good in theirs🥰.

So what are you waiting for? Submit your wins here for a chance to be featured in next week's newsletter. We want to celebrate you!

Share your accomplishments – big and small – here.

1. What is a Beaujolais?
2. Compared to their body weight, which of the following animals is the strongest – dung beetle, elephant, ant, or cow?
3. What is the capital of Canada?
4. Which country features a shipwreck on its national flag?

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like Positive DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize.

Start referring.👇

1. A type of red wine🍷 
2. A dung beetle, which can move objects up to 1,141x its own weight💩
3. Ottawa 🇨🇦 
4. Bermuda 🇧🇲 

How many did you get? Hit that reply button and let me know!

Hit that reply button and let me know, I read every response. Have a great week!🥰

–Kailyn

P.S. Enjoying this newsletter and want to support my work? It'd mean the world if you told a friend or two about Positive DONUT. You can even win sweet, sweet prizes for each person you refer using your unique link (found two sections above).