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Dear #Positivity Friends,
It’s said that the month of May gets its name from Maia, the Greek goddess of growth and fertility. This may help explain why every day in May feels like such a surprising burst of newness. You go to sleep one night and the tree outside your window is as bare as in the dead of winter. You wake up the next morning and it’s covered with bright blooms or tender leaves unfurling before your eyes. Those mournful-looking plants playing dead in your yard suddenly come alive with new growth, laughing to themselves for tricking you again, just like they did last year and the year before.
These are the glory days for growing things. The soil is ripe and daylight is abundant. You have the energy and enthusiasm to make things happen. That’s why this is the perfect time to be a grower. Organize a neighborhood potluck or start a book club to sow and grow new relationships. Volunteer for a local cause—a food bank or an animal shelter or a community clean-up—and see a gleam of hope or promise grow out of your small effort. Or plant some seeds in a big pot or window box with a child and watch their wonder grow as new green things sprout throughout the season.
Use this fertile month of May to create something good that wasn’t there before. It will feel nice now but it will also produce unexpected benefits long into the future.
As always, I hope that you are enjoying my newsletter. If you miss any edition, you can find it on my website. Pass this newsletter along and encourage your family and friends to sign up.
With hope and positivity,
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Do you want to get growing? Become a member of Neighborhood Farms USA® and you’ll get hot gardening tips from our master gardener, free design plans for indoor and outdoor gardens, and a monthly newsletter loaded with scoop about planting, growing, and harvesting your own food. Your membership will help support our mission to promote community gardening that supports health, wellness, and nutritional education in neighborhoods across the country. Go to the Neighborhood Farms USA website to join today!
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This spring and fall, more than two billion birds will fly over Texas on their annual migration across the United States. They move at night, using the light from the stars and moon to guide them. But bright city lights can distract and confuse them and send them crashing into buildings. After a terrible bird collision event in Galveston in 2017, Houston Audubon launched what would become the “Lights Out! Texas” campaign to encourage Texas cities to turn off non-essential lights in municipal buildings at night. Fort Worth enthusiastically joined the initiative and is considerably darker after the sun goes down during the migration periods, with residents and businesses also joining the city’s endeavor to save the birds. Bird collision deaths in Texas have been reduced by 60 percent thanks to the campaign. “We’re seeing communities all across the state join in on this effort,” said Anna Vallery, a conservation specialist with Houston Audubon. | |
In 1978, Patrick Moriarty was teaching his high school science class about solar eclipses. As part of the lesson, the class took a look into the future to see when a total eclipse would pass over their hometown of Rochester, New York. “Hey, circle that one on April 8, 2024,” Moriarty told his students. “We’re going to get together for that one.” The years passed and the world changed in unimaginable ways, but Moriarty never forgot the date he made with his class. In 2022, he set up a Facebook group to find some of his old students to invite them to the promised gathering, not knowing whether they would even remember or care about it. Remarkably, word spread and his now middle-aged former students began making plans to come back to Rochester for the eclipse. Moriarty bought 130 pairs of eclipse glasses, ordered pizzas and drinks, and greeted his students—many of whom had come from across the country—at his home on April 8. After almost 50 years, Moriarty fulfilled his promise. “When teachers go into education, they hope that they can be that kind of teacher that would have an impact on people and make a difference,” Moriarty said. “This event right here just firmed it up for me that I guess I did okay.” | |
The Dog Who Flunked Out of School | Golden retriever Roger is a friendly fellow. Too friendly it seems. As a young dog, his exuberant attitude could not be contained and he flunked out of the police academy in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan for being too friendly. While not ideal for a narcotics detection dog, his affable attributes are apparently just what is needed for a rescue dog, which is how he ended up spending his “career.” When a 7.4 magnitude earthquake and subsequent landslide hit Taiwan in early April this year, Roger got a chance to use his talents in the search and rescue operations that followed and captured the hearts of Taiwan’s residents with his heroic actions. After years of rescue operations and being certified by the International Rescue Dog Organization, Roger is nearing retirement. He will live out the rest of his life in a wonderful home, doing what he was meant to do: just being Roger, the friendly dog. | |
NEW RELEASES!
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As a thank you for being a member of our community, we're excited to offer exclusive access to our FREE #Positivity® digital wallpaper.
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Tip of the Month
The biggest risk you can take in business is to not take risks at all. Growth and achievement only comes from having the confidence to take smart chances.
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Check Out Our Web Series
Moshe is passionate about highlighting small businesses and what makes them unique, successful, and fun.
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Follow #MosheMeansBusiness on FB and Instagram for more tips! | | |
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The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon
This book tells the story of George, a troubled manager and family man who begins one particularly miserable day with a flat tire that forces him to ride the bus to work. There he meets a bus driver and other interesting characters who teach him how to approach things with a positive, forward-thinking attitude. Their “10 rules” help him transform his negative outlook into positive accomplishments, including turning his personal and professional life around. This is the best kind of advice for self-improvement—totally relatable and perfectly practical.
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If you like our #Positivity® Newsletter...You’ll 💕Our Podcast, Common Denominator. Each week, I have inspiring conversations with great thinkers. | | |
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Manning Sumner is a fitness pioneer and the founder of Legacy Gyms in Miami. He’s developed a fitness system called “Partner Interval Training.” Through teamwork, energy, and community, Manning’s created a structure where everybody can achieve professional-level results. | |
Catch up on previous episodes:
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Spreading #Positivity®
Thank you, readers, for sending us your photos with your comments. We are so excited that you are helping spread a positive message everywhere you go! Let’s keep spreading #Positivity® together! Send us your photos and stories to info@moshepopack.com and include your name and social media handle. We will feature them in the next newsletter and on Facebook!
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