There were lot of great/positive stories in the news this week. Here are some of my favorites!

What happens when you have more than ten individual billion dollar companies? You get to fly around the world being awesome. That’s what Sir Richard Branson does these days. His latest happy trip involved taking some babygorillas back to Africa to reintroduce them back into the wild. You can these kinds of things when you can use your airline as a private cab service!

The picture of him holding the baby made my wife very envious.

Good on ya Richard!

The Kony 2012 campaign seems to have lost a little steam after it’s front person publicly stumbled on Saint Paddys Day weekend. That being said, their “Cover The Night” papering of local areas on April 20 should reignite some more attention. Good luck guys!

This new show is SUPER awkward but shows that most people will stand up for total strangers when given the opportunity. It’s called: What would you do? From the d-bag boyfriend who insults his girlfreiends small breats to the guy who takes money out of a homeless guy’s jar…..it’s pretty entertaining. http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/

And last but not least……..THE GRATEFUL DEAD IS ALIVE.

Well sort of. They have been resurrected in video game form. I am not even a dead head but let’s be honest……How can’t this be cool?

Check it out here: www.gratefuldeadgame.com

Enjoy your week and remember to send me anything that makes you happy!

Aaron Parkinson

There’s a lot of buzz around the new book Abundance by Peter Diamandis. I’ve been following it quote closely because Peter is a bonafide genius with a very timely message. The message is simple:

The World is getting better not worse.

With so many doom and gloom stories monopolizing main stream media, it can can hard not to get caught up in it. I know it even happens to me and I am very anti-news.

What’s really cool is how Peter explains why our brains naturally gravitate towards negative media. It’s almost a fight or flight mechanism. It’s not that people WANT to read negative stuff, it’s just that their brain naturally focuses on it over anything positive. As a result, the media ends up feeding us what we “want” which is more doom and gloom.

Now let’s talk about how this may relate to “The Secret”. If you are like me, you are probably sick of anything even related to The Secret. That being said, I loved it when I first saw it. The movie was incredibly viral, and it made people believe in positivity again.

I see the same thing happening here. People crave good news. They want to believe we are getting better. They want to believe there is hope. The reason it doesn’t happen enough is the poor quality of the stuff that gets put out. The Secret had good quality production. The hype around Abundance is the same.

I wish Peter good luck in this venture because the World deserves it right now. If you want to know more about Peter and Abundance check out his Ted Talk. It’s brilliant.

Need some extra cash? Stop your scheming and start helping random people out. 

It just might put a cool $10k in your pocket.

Award winning film make Eva Brzeski is making a film about the power of kindness. In fact, it called Kindness The Movie.

We all know that the mainstream media bombardes us with negative news. It’s one of the reasons I started this blog. People deserve to see all the cool things that go unnoticed every day.

Eva is working with a lot of talented people on this project including MTV news’s Sarah Fisher.

Ok….back to the $10,000. Eva is giving away $10,000 for the best video sent in. All you have to do is grab your flip cam and start shooting.

Here’s the link http://www.kindnessthemovie.com/we-want-your-stories/

I can’t wait for this movie to come out and see what kinds of cool things random people have done.

Good luck Eva.

Sincerely,

Aaron Parkinson

Tim Tebow makes me watch my words. I don’t want to be blasphemous around him. So who the “heck” is this guy?

He’s the most talked about guy in the NFL right now, that’s who.

Has he thrown the most touchdowns? No
Does he have a cannon for an arm? Nope
Was his dad an NFL legend? Uh-uh
Has he demolished a bunch of passing records in his first 5 games? Sorry Tim….. Hell no.

Tim Tebow has somehow become the modern day version of “Rudy”. If you haven’t seen the movie Rudy , first off, shame on you. It’s a movie about a kid who isn’t physically gifted enough to play football who eventually gets a chance to shine.

Now let me be straight here. Tim Tebow is VERY physically gifted. Most NFL coaches think he could be an amazing Tight End. He’s very big and extremely agile.

Heck…..he won a national championship at Florida.

The thing that has everyone completely befuddled is that fact that he can’t throw a football like a prototypical QB. He is not Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees. He’s not anywhere close….yet.

He throws balls that look like they got shot by a sniper in the crowd. They’re wobbly, sky high, miss-timed “ducks” that make him look like a 4th string college reject.

So why is he still playing Quarterback?

Because he is 4-1 since he got the call.

Somehow, against all odds, this kid just wins. Al Davis would love him. “Just win baby.” The crazy thing is he has completed just eight passes in his last two games.

EIGHT!!!!!

That is not a type-o. Eight completions.

I am pretty sure I could complete eight passes in two NFL games.

The thing that’s amazing is that he has lead Denver to the brink of playoff contention. His stats in his first five games are actually better than the Denver legend John Elway. He’s 4-1. He just beat the New York Jets. He scored the game-winning touchdown when he tucked the ball under his arm and went for a 20 yard scamper.

He’s a bible-thumping, critic-ignoring, 100-watt smile in  navy blue and  burnt orange.

So how long can it last?

No one really knows. The reality is, it doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that you enjoy it now. It’s so rare that you see these feel-good anomolies. This kid has everyone talking. He’s polite. He’s fresh. He’s not going to get arrested for DUI or Domestic Assault.

He’s fun.

Take the opportunity to get on the Tebow train. You won’t regret it.

Sincerely,

Aaron Parkinson

I don’t know what it is about these “talent” shows they have on TV. Whether it’s America’s Got Talent, X-Factor, American Idol or some other knock off. Every time I see someone I think has NO CHANCE of being successful and then they come out and KILL IT I get overwhelmed with emotion. I think my wife is starting to think something is wrong with me.

Maybe I see a little of myself in all of them. Maybe we all do. That feeling of desperation around knowing that you have a talent that will never be seen, a story that will never be told.

Shows like these give people without any resources the opportunity to truly shine. They are a once in a lifetime opportunity for those who would be overlooked.

Every year I look forward to that individual who side wipes me and reminds me never to judge a book by it’s cover.

These are my favorites below.

This amazing group of people just showed was the word unselfish really means. We have all watched those movies with the burning car that explodes. These people had to be thinking the same thing as the time ticked by. That didn’t stop them though. As the flames got worse more and more people joined the fray until they had enough to finally lift this smoldering pile of metal off a badly injured man.

The man ended up in critical condition but, fortunately for him, he came out alive.

Aaron Parkinson

Imagine being stuck in a cage with another human being. Now imagine their sole motivation is to inflict as much pain as possible on you in front of all of your friends and family.

Scary thought huh?

Now imagine not being able to hear anything your coaches are saying to you. You are all alone in the ring……. because you are deaf.

Those are the enourmous odds that Matt Hamill has overcome to challenge for a title in the UFC. If you are not familiar with the UFC, it  is the world’s premier martial arts organization where combatants fight in a cage using a mixture of wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, judo, and karate. It may be the world’s scariest sport…..and Matt Hamill is thriving in it.

Matt’s story is so inspiring that a feature movie about his life called “Hamill” was just recently released. It’s getting rave reviews from the hearing impaired community. Call it a “Rudy meets Rocky” for the deaf. It is inspiring millions of young, hearing impaired children accross the globe.

Matt is a great example of pushing through any perceived “limitations” and he is a hero in his home state of Ohio.

Matt is taking on Quentin “Rampage” Jackson this weekend as the headliner for the UFC.

Great job Matt.

Good luck this weekend.

Aaron Parkinson

Rita Chretien is very fortunate to be alive and may have even set a new record.

Rita and her husband were camping in the remote wilderness of Nevada last month when they got lost. Her husband, who has yet to be found, set off to find help and didn’t return. Rita has been all alone for the last seven weeks until she was discovered by some random ATV explorers last week. They were shocked to see that she was still alive and even more shcoked when they learned she had been living off of a small bag of trail mix and creek water.

When someone is fond in this remote of an area, they are rarely alive. Doctors think Rita may have even set a new record for how long she survived with so little food.

Rita’s common sense and faith have proven that strength of mind can often win over the needs of the body. I love stories like this.

Aaron Parkison

I love dogs.

We have two and will probably have ten before my life is over. They are ridiculously loyal even when they shouldn’t be. There are lots of great videos on youtube that back this up. (If you haven’t seen the dog rescuing the other dog on the highway then do it now)

I was looking for cool stories coming out of the terrible situation in Japan and found this little one.

Look at this dog. His friend is hurt. When the cameramen walk up he tries to get their attention and draw them back to his injured friend. He then maintains his post until the cavalry arrives.

Both these dogs were rescued and treated.

Very cool.

Aaron Parkinson

I will be honest.

I am a huge poker player and Barry Greenstein’s style of play kind of bugs me. My wife thinks he looks like one of those creepy guys who drive a blacked-out van.

That being said, there is no way you could mistake his generosity. Barry is one of the most giving people in poker, a world with a seedy history. Most poker players can’t manage their money well enough to pay their rent so when I learned that Barry has given over $5 million to charity I had to write about it.

Barry is known as the “Robin Hood” of poker. He gives every cent he makes to impoverished children. For the last ten years Barry has been their silent saviour.

There is nothing Barry won’t do for the kids. He has even made a complete fool of himself, numerous times on national television, in exchange for a hefty donation. Barry is known to to say whatever someone wants if the donation is good enough

Some of his better ones include:

“LOL Donkuments”
“Math is for idiots”

Barry is someone that everyone could learn a thing or two from. He’s a gentleman, a great poker player, and his generosity is unmatched.

Well played Mr. Greenstein, well played.