Happy Tuesday to you, and welcome to another edition of Positive DONUT. How’s everyone doing with their New Year’s Resolutions? 

Most old wives' tales say it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so if you’ve made it to today, congrats! If your resolutions haven’t totally clicked into place yet, no worries, some sources say it can actually take much longer to form a new habit (so don’t stress if that new gym membership hasn’t gone to much use yet – start now!).

Before we move into the newsletter, we have some exciting news to share; Positive DONUT is taking part in a huge contest giveaway!

The deets:

• It's free! All you need is your name and email to enter the giveaway.
• The Grand Prize: The winner will receive a $1,500 Gift Card to Scott Kemper Imagery, a $1,000 Visa Gift Card, and a copy of the book Buy What You Love Without Going Broke
• Three additional winners will also receive a copy of Buy What You Love Without Going Broke

What are you waiting for? Enter the contest here, then cross your fingers for some amazing new wall art and a hefty Visa gift card to spend on some of those new and exciting habits.

Enter here.

Now, without further ado: Positive DONUT.

–Kailyn 🥰

Ready, Set, Go: Today's newsletter takes ~3.67 minutes to read (976 words).

I am deserving of success, happiness, and peace.

Fifty-six years ago, Barry and Margaret Sharman were married in a quaint ceremony in Canada. The young couple celebrated with friends and family, before bringing their bridal party to a nearby photo studio to snap some pictures together prior to the reception.

A few weeks later, the Sharmans were heartbroken to discover they couldn’t afford the final prints of their photos; they ended up leaving the studio empty-handed and just chalked it up as an L.

Margaret thought of the wedding photos often, but between raising her two sons and moving away, they were pushed to the back of her mind. That is, until, a few years later, when the couple were more financially stable and she *Nickelback voice* 🎶looked for these photographs🎶. But alas – the studio had closed down and she had no way of contacting the owner. 

And so the years went on… until the impossible happened.

Last month, Margaret received an out-of-the-blue email from one of her former bridesmaids and longtime friend, Sandy Farynuk, containing one of her lost wedding photos.

As soon as she opened the attachment, she burst into tears. “It was so emotional to see a photo of our entire wedding party,” she said. “I was stunned.”

So, how did she get it? Sandy is the president of the Enderby and District Museum Society. And when a peer at the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum and Art Gallery sent her an email with a black-and-white photo of the wedding party that had been donated to the museum, she recognized young Sandy in the photo.

• It turns out, the museum had almost all of the photos from the Sharman's wedding day. They were found in a large box of photos and negatives donated from a garage sale, according to Jackie Pearase, administrator of the Enderby and District Museum and Archives. 
• Margaret said she wishes she could track down the photographer, W.E. Saby, to thank him. She said she had tried to no avail.

“He’s an angel,” she told the Washington Post. “He could have destroyed those photos, and he didn’t. If he is still alive, I’d like to tell him, ‘Thank you.’ The photos he took 56 years ago are the most thoughtful, miraculous gift I could ever have imagined.” 

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Sisters Tracey Waygood, Elaine McCartney and Pamela Cook snapped the photo on the left 40 years ago following a beach day and dip in the English Channel. “Looking at the photograph, it really epitomizes who we are as sisters,” Pamela Cook told CNN. “Us three. Laughing like that. It’s a photo I held onto for the longest time.”

• Four decades later, the sisters went back to recreate their favorite photo, this time with a new plaid blanket and bag of candy – but the same joy and love flowing between them.

🌍 Some wins for our planet… Its easy to get bogged down by the negative news, but there are almost always small positives to find in the in-between. For instance: This list of seven quiet breakthroughs for climate and nature in 2024 surfaces things you may have missed amid the chaos of this last year.

🏈 Football milestone… Though the game didn't end up going his team's way, Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman became the first Black head coach to appear in a FBS college football national championship game yesterday.

📚 NFL Book Club... When Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was spotted reading a self-help book on the sidelines of a recent game against the Green Bay Packers, he had no idea it would shoot to the top of the Amazon charts the next day. The book in question? Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life, by Jim Murphy.

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.

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Welcome to What’s Your Win, the section of the newsletter where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here within our Positive DONUT community. Last week, we had a major lack of submissions and let you know. This week, we received over fifteen wins! I think that’s a Positive DONUT record!

Here are a few of the wins from last week. If you don’t see your submission, don’t worry; it’ll be featured in a future newsletter🥰.

💪 One anonymous subscriber from Boston, Massachusetts, is standing up for herself:

• "My manager did something that didn’t sit well with me, and I knew I had to have a conversation with her but I was terrified, it was going to be an uncomfortable situation for me. I am happy to say that I had the conversation with her today and while it did not go as well as I would have liked it to, I am proud of myself for having the courage to have the conversation and advocate for myself. It was an instant confidence boost!"

🫀 Michael P. from Ohio is putting his health first:

• "My word for 2025 is HEALTH, and I am making almost every decision with my health as a consideration. I am well on my way to losing weight, being more active and already feel my self esteem rising."

😇 Linda M. from New Jersey is discovering the definition of “clear space, clear mind”:

• "When my dad died in 2019, I moved into his home (it had been my parents' home since 1977). My parents were Italian immigrants, so there was more than enough of their belongings remaining in the house as they held onto A LOT! Being cut of the same cloth when I took residence, I, alone, filled a 2,000 square foot home to its brim. I’ve slowly cleaned things out but emotions prevented me from really purging. This week I filled bags of truly unnecessary, old items and made space and what a breath of fresh air and feeling of satisfaction that was! I have more to get to but now I know I can do it!"

🎮 Zayn K. from Corry, Pennsylvania, is actively planning for his future:

• "As a tenth grader, I am already looking forward to my future. Already knowing what college I wanna go to, University of Central Florida (UCF), and have already dedicated myself to pushing through working on stuff for my possible career choices, those being video game development and writer/author. I am currently developing 33 video games and writing 9 books, as of the writing of this humble self-spotlight paragraph. I'm also in the process of getting my own little company started, which in a mix of video game development and writing, though is to be expected to increase in what it designs. I'd like to also give a shout out to Corry Area High School and everyone that's pushed me forward to where I am now."

This week’s theme is Disney🏰. How many questions can you get right? 

1. In Tangled, What is the name of Rapunzel’s chameleon sidekick?
2. In The Little Mermaid, what is the name of Ariel's best friend?
3. In Beauty and the Beast, what is the name of Belle's father?
4. In Zootopia, what is the name of the rabbit police officer?
5. Who is the voice of Dory in Finding Nemo?

Share your own wins... If you take a moment to slow down and recognize the good things in your life, you'll notice there really is always something to be thankful for🥰.

And, if you feel compelled to share, let us know what you're feeling especially grateful for or proud of right here. Nothing is too small or insignificant to celebrate, and we promise to be your biggest hype-people😎.

Submit your or a loved one's wins here for a chance to be featured in next week's newsletter.

1. Pascal 🦎
2. Flounder 🐠
3. Maurice 🥖
4. Judy Hopps 🐰
5. Ellen Degeneres 🐟

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

–Kailyn