Sometimes all it takes is a change in mindset — no matter how small — to turn a crappy day into a good one. To help you shift into a happier gear, we’ve rounded up five things from around the web that inspire and delight us, and we hope they’ll do the same for you. We’ll be sharing our favorite happiness-boosters each week, so be sure to check back — and share your own in the comments below!
1. This video of adorable laughing babies
If a person among us can watch this video without laughing (or, at the very least, sitting there with a giant grin on their face), then… well, we don’t know what we’d do then, because there’s no way anyone can watch this video without feeling good.
2. This collection of “51 Animal Pictures You Need to See Before You Die”
Take this orphaned pony, for example. Its best friend is a teddy bear named Button (seen here cuddling with said pony). True story: We’re glad we saw this before we, well, you know.
3. This highly unique, sort-of love story
Biologists Dwayne Gwynne and David Rentz were enjoying a stroll along dirt roads in western Australia, looking for insects, when they came upon a peculiar sight: There was a beer bottle on the ground. Okay, so that wasn’t so peculiar, but this was: There was a beetle clinging to the bottom of the glass, and… it was trying to mate with it. Judgment aside, the biologists were curious. Through a series of mini-experiments, they observed that male Australian jewel beetles were highly attracted to a particular brand of beer bottle, and would enthusiastically attempt to mate with it unless and until they were displaced by the biologists.
Turns out, the males were unable to distinguish between the bottles and the bumpy-backed females of their own species (what this says about the intelligence of this species, we’re not qualified to say). The males were so thoroughly exhausting themselves in their attempts to copulate with the beer bottles that the entire beetle population was threatened.
Here’s the happy part: When the bottles’ makers got wind of this, they changed the manufacturing of the bottle to eliminate the little bumps. Now, the Australian jewel beetles can happily mate with each other — you know, until a smokin’ hot milk jug comes along.
4. These pictures of the latest in adorable creatures — the capybara — plus some interspecies lovin’
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Garabaldi ROUS, a capybara who is highly prone to cuddling. The world’s largest rodents, capybaras remain relatively unknown in the Northern Hemisphere despite being absurdly cute (perhaps it’sbecause these guys can weigh upwards of 100 pounds). Don’t let the exterior fool you: If these pictures are any indication, Garabaldi and Co. are decidedly gentle giants.
5. This video about jellybeans and the meaning of life and stuff
Have you ever wondered how many days you have to live, as represented by a heaping pile of jelly beans? Of course you have! Luckily, this sort-of-cheesy-but-mostly-poignant video lays it all out for us. Turns out, we spend a whole lot of time (i.e., jelly beans) sleeping. Which begs the question: What will you do with your wild and precious jelly beans?
What’s making you happy this week? Share in the comments below!
