Happy Tuesday, and welcome back to another edition of Positive DONUT.

If the news has you feeling a little overwhelmed lately, I get it. Consider this your time to sit back, take a deep breath, and bask in a few minutes of joy.

Let me know which sections and stories are your favorites; I always love hearing from you!

Have a fantastic week. 🥰

–Kailyn

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter should be a ~2.93 minute read (779 words).

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I live today with a mindset of gratitude. I am blessed.

Brooklyn Dotson and Noah Waters have a love story not even a seasoned Hallmark movie writer could dream up.

But for them, every bit of it was real.

It started decades ago in the most bittersweet way. Brooklyn was just a toddler with only days left to live when a liver transplant saved her life. Her donor was 10-year-old Michael Waters, who died suddenly in Ohio.

• Michael had told his parents that if anything ever happened to him, he wanted to help other kids who needed it.
• So, amid the unimaginable grief of losing their son, his parents honored his wish and donated his organs.

At the time, Michael’s little brother Noah was still a kid himself, grieving the loss of his older brother. 

• Brooklyn underwent the transplant at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and got a second chance at life.
• As Noah and Brooklyn put it: “Their lives were connected from that moment.”

And that connection only grew. The two families stayed in touch, with Brooklyn and her mom making the five-hour drive from Kentucky to Ohio at least once a year. Along the way, Brooklyn and Noah became close friends.

• For Noah, Brooklyn was someone he could talk to about the big brother he had lost.
• For Brooklyn, Noah gave her the chance to learn more about the boy whose final gift allowed her to grow up.

Twenty years later...The childhood friends are now preparing to get married at the end of this month. “I think that the two just had magic and that they discovered that early on when they were tiny,” said Noah and Michael’s mom. “They were really pure little kids. They were just always really beautiful and loving together.”

The couple says they hope sharing their (and Michael's) story will encourage more people to consider organ donation.

Jones Road Beauty believes makeup should look like real skin. Enter What The Foundation, a buildable formula that leaves your complexion looking natural, fresh, and glowing.

Created by iconic makeup artist Bobbi Brown, it’s earning praise from customers: “The coverage is light and natural-looking. It’s not cakey and doesn’t settle into lines.” Sounds like witchcraft, but it’s not.

If you’ve been buying foundation for years, we get it. But Jones Road believes your skin should still look like your skin.

☝️ You’re looking at some of the finalists from the 2026 Ocean Photographer of the Year awards. 

This year’s top prize went to Julien Anton for her black-and-white photo of an adult seahorse surrounded by newborn babies among the seaweed of French Polynesia.

🎤 Celine Dion returned to the stage following a six-year battle with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. The vocal legend was visibly emotional during her set (relatable 😭), which marked the first of a 16-show residency in Paris.

🧸 A stuffed bear named Rosie received five-star treatment after being accidentally left behind at the Four Seasons hotel in Taormina, Sicily. Staff found the beloved plushie, then staged photos of her lounging by the pool, enjoying breakfast, and relaxing in bed before mailing her back home.

✈️ Republic Airways flight attendant Monique Harris went above and beyond for a tired mom on a recent flight. After quickly catching her baby as they were about to roll off her lap, Harris offered to hold the little one so mom could nap for as long as she needed.

😅 You’re not alone. It’s normal to feel overstimulated after a busy day at work or school, and constant socialization can have our brains processing a ton of information at once.

Recharging your social battery can be key when you're feeling a bit depleted. If you need a bit of a social pick-me-up, try out one (or all) of these strategies:

1. Read or watch something fictional
2. Get outside and move around
3. Reframe exhaustion as a sign that you had fun
4. Unwind with friends or family in a low-key way
5. Relax in a way that feels natural to you

Dig deeper.

Keep relying on your coffee for energy. Let Seed handle the digestive support. DS-01®, the #1 Probiotic*, can ease discomfort from bloating in just 1 week, support easier regularity in 2 weeks, and strengthen the gut barrier by 22%** for steadier digestion and better immune balance.

ViaCap® capsule-in-capsule technology protects 24 live strains through digestion, delivering them to your colon. Paired with a no-bloat prebiotic that feeds beneficial gut microbes.

Welcome to What’s Your Win?, the section of the newsletter where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here in the Positive DONUT community.

I love sharing stories from around the globe, but there’s just something extra special about hearing what’s going on in your lives.

❤️ Alyssa R. from Morro Bay, CA, is improving happiness by just 5%

• "After way too long, my husband and I are decorating the inside of our boat to up the joy and whimsy in our daily life - and agreed to stop worrying about the future re-sale value of our home. Yesterday, we started applying a whimsical (and removable) wallpaper to the inside of our door. Today, I finished the first door panel AND did one wall of our bedroom in a different wallpaper. It’s not much, but our goal is to improve our happiness by 5%. Just these little sections of wallpaper have soared us past the 5% goal."

📔 Five minutes can change everything. Check out the journal designed to bring you back to, well, you—in five minutes a day or less. Try out the 5-Minute Journal.✨

🤪 Just to make you chuckle… I’ll let the headline do the screaming talking for this one: More than 100 people gather in San Francisco to scream at the ocean.

✨Affiliate link. If you make a purchase, Positive DONUT earns a small commission at NO additional cost.

Can you spot the 5 differences in the bottom image compared to the top?

These days, not many people celebrate their everyday strides. But even the small ones are worth recognizing.

Who knows?...Sharing something positive going on in your life just may help someone else power through some tough times in their own.

Here's your chance to share even the simplest achievements with us, we promise to be your biggest hype-people.😎

Share a little win.

1. The eraser on the bottom right is missing
2. The button on the lamp is a different color
3. The tree on the right in the drawing is different
4. The pencils in the box have changed colors
5. The cat’s tail is closer to the table

Advertise with us: Want to reach other optimistic and engaged readers like you? Become a DONUT partner.

Made it this far? Let us know what you think:

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Seed disclaimers: *Source: SPINS, Combined Amazon + Target Sales data, Last 24 weeks ending in January 2026. **Data derived from a model simulating the GI tract with human stool samples. Results may vary.