Sure, I’ll create a post based entirely on the fact that I’m hungry…why not? And who can complain about breakfast? It’s a fun meal, starting your day off just right, dependable, quiet, subtle and enriching. Go breakfast!

A bachelor’s life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner.
Francis Bacon

A simple enough pleasure, surely, to have breakfast alone with one’s husband, but how seldom married people in the midst of life achieve it.
Anne Spencer

A woman is as old as she looks before breakfast.
Edgar Watson Howe

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.
John Gunther

Bill Clinton’s foreign policy experience stems mainly from having breakfast at the International House of Pancakes.
Pat Buchanan

Breakfast is a notoriously difficult meal to serve with a flourish.
Clement Freud

Do we need to have 280 brands of breakfast cereal? No, probably not. But we have them for a reason - because some people like them. It’s the same with baseball statistics.
Bill James

Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.
Alfred A. Montapert

Breakfast Pizza - Click on image for recipe!

Altercations and communication deadlocks can be extremely frustrating. Sometimes it seems that you can have the same issue, over and over again, with the same individual…for years! What can you do that changes the tide?

Have you ever apologized when you didn’t feel apologetic? Not an easy task, I know. But as it’s often been said, “Would you rather be right or happy?” Apologizing is often an easy way to open communication back up and let the healing begin, regardless of whether you’re deeply feeling it or not.

Or what if you’re really angry at someone’s behavior? Just as a challenge to yourself, try to say the opposite of what you’d like to say. Don’t think of it as a lie; think of it as a method to find a small thread of what you do like and simply mentioning it. (”I really like how you speak your mind!”) Again, you’ll be surprised at the results. You turned your standard behavior on its head!

Don’t like that neighbor of yours, who seems highly inconsiderate, try smiling (even if they don’t smile in response) in passing.

It doesn’t have to feel great; it’s just a method to break your standard response and see the results.

In short, it opens up your mind!

[Thanks to Only Positive News reader James for sending us this inspiring story! We're always grateful for suggestions such as these, so keep 'em coming!]

Claire Lomas approaches the London Marathon finishing line in her ReWalk bionic suit. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

A paralysed woman has become the first person to complete a marathon in a bionic suit.

Claire Lomas finished the London Marathon 16 days after the race began. The 32-year-old said she was “over the moon” as she completed the 26.2-mile route, which she started on 22 April with 36,000 other participants.

The former chiropractor was in tears as she became the first person to complete any marathon using a bionic ReWalk suit at 12.50pm on Tuesday.

Hundreds lined the streets as she made her final steps to complete the race. Three mounted members of the Household Cavalry gave her a guard of honour as she crossed the finishing line on the Mall.

A spokeswoman for the mounted regiment said the riders were there to give Lomas “extra support because she is passionate about horses”.

Read more about this inspiring first!

Hey, listen. We’re hardly competitive here at Only Positive News. (That would kind of defeat the purpose, right?) We’re happy to promote other websites who contribute to a relatively small world of websites dedicated to positive news. Read about this latest endeavor, started by students, so hungry for more positive news, they created it themselves:

The Honors Junior English Department at Desert Vista High School [in Arizona] was tired of only seeing stories that painted public education in a negative light.

The idea of bringing news about the positives, to change public perception, sparked an idea within one of those DV teachers. That idea turned into a project of teamwork and passion which culminated in the form of a website after months of work by the students.

The five classes and more than 100 students worked together on ideas, structure and content for a standalone website, called The Thunder Project, www.thethunderproject.org. It was the first time such a project has been undertaken, and was envisioned by teachers Jennifer Atkins and Deborah Benedict.

“They are both very passionate about the subject and they wanted to do something more meaningful for this year’s classes,” said Zak Ferrara, student and assistant editor of the website. “We hear things all over that public education is failing. But it is succeeding for us.”

Read more at: East Valley Tribune

Some of us dread them. Some of us function the best during them. And still others use them as a spiritual jumping off point for a successful day. That’s right - mornings. Bright, sunny. The start of something. Coffee. Birds chirping.

I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks.
Barack Obama

Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.
Mahatma Gandhi

If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.
Mark Twain

I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.
Audrey Hepburn

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Steve Jobs

I look upon death to be as necessary to our constitution as sleep. We shall rise refreshed in the morning.
Benjamin Franklin

I wake up every morning at nine and grab for the morning paper. Then I look at the obituary page. If my name is not on it, I get up.
Benjamin Franklin

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
Khalil Gibran

It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.
Henry Ford

The person who doesn’t scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.
Hunter S. Thompson

In the morning, a man walks with his whole body; in the evening, only with his legs.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

All men are children and of one family. The same tale sends them all to bed, and wakes them in the morning.
Henry David Thoreau I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls.
Henry David Thoreau

The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us. Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.
Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)

It’s something many of us aspire to, but its often so hard to do. We recycle, we re-use, yet somehow there’s always trash. This town in Japan has made a transition to a cleaner environment and waste-free world:

In Kamikatsu, there’s no such thing as trash. You won’t find a single garbage bin in any of the town’s homes, and there’s not a dump anywhere within driving distance. Instead, the resourceful residents must compost all waste from their food, and sort other trash into 34 separate categories, with sections for plastic bottles, razor blades, Styrofoam, and various other paraphernalia.

The crazy part? Most locals actually seem to like the extreme recycling process. Kikue Nii, one resident, claims that the town’s no-waste policy makes her more mindful of what she’s using, and helps her to take advantage of every last scrap. “I think I produce less waste because I have to compost it,” she told BBC News.

“When I can’t use the whole vegetable or meat, I try to cook it again with wine and so on. It makes a very good soup. Everyone should have a composter if they can.”

Read more.

Perhaps your first thought when it comes to positive beverages is a big glass of red wine. And while that can be wonderful, did you ever notice the power of a good non-alcoholic beverage? Here are a few good examples:

1. A Hot Cup of Tea. People have been drinking tea for eons now. Whether it’s herbal or caffeinated, there’s just something instantly grounding about drinking hot tea. If you’re feeling a bit frazzled or unfocused, stop for a sip and see what happens.

2. A Tall Glass of Water. A boring beverage, you might think. Until you realize the changes you feel after drinking some good old H20. Many of us go throughout the day slightly dehydrated. Water is cleansing and gives you a small boost of energy. While drinking it, feel a sense of purification, as if you’re washing all the bad stuff away.

3. A Refreshing Glass of Juice. I don’t know about you, but when I’m not feeling well, I crave orange or grapefruit juice. Its as if my body is screaming for it. Juice is a fresh, alive and it imbues in us a sense of vibrancy, on top of it being good for our health.

So drink up today. Take a moment to feel the effects in your body and mind.

We’ve all heard of the concept of karma and perhaps many of us have experienced it, to one degree or another. But sometimes, it happens within hours, even minutes, as this story highlights:

Victor Giesbrecht, 61, of Winnipeg, stopped his pickup along an interstate highway in western Wisconsin to help two stranded women change a flat tire. Minutes later, his life was in their hands.

Sara Berg, of Eau Claire, Wis., and her cousin, Lisa Meier, were headed home Saturday night on Interstate 94 when they “heard an awful noise.” They were somewhere between Menomonie and Eau Claire when they pulled to the side of the road with a flat tire — something neither knew how to fix. Meier’s husband was on his way to help when Giesbrecht, who was driving by with his wife, Ann, showed up and asked whether they needed help.

“We were so grateful,” Berg said. “Nowadays, nobody ever really stops to offer their help. It’s kind of scary sometimes, because you really don’t know what you’re getting into.”

Find out what happens next!

Most of us feel considerably more at ease when a pet is nearby. It brings out the calm and happiness in us almost instantly. But this recent study shows that dogs can help kids with autism considerably (50%!) when it comes to overall stress levels.

“A lot of times families feel trapped in their homes,” says Karen Shirk, executive director of Paws for Ability, a service dog–training organization in Ohio. “The dogs act as an anchor for the [autistic] child, giving families more freedom to go places together.

Through their comforting presence, service dogs for people with autism reduce their masters’ stress levels in a quantifiable way, according to a University of Montreal study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. Researchers measured kids’ levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) before, during, and after they began working with a dog. When they had a dog by their side, children’s cortisol levels dropped by nearly 50 percent—a significant decrease. How much happier and more capable would all of us be with such a significant stress reduction? The results are promising.

Read more at Gimundo!

I met a man yesterday who was on a self-proclaimed retreat. No, it wasn’t an “official” retreat at some fancy spa or in the middle of the desert somewhere. It was at his friend’s shore house, which was empty during the winter. He’s a musician, works hard and just feels empty as of late: scattered, no new ideas and low on energy.

He only managed to get away from 3 days but he’s turned off his phone, made his environment quiet and welcoming, and is allowing himself to “clear the slate” as he put it.

Most of us never bother doing such a simple act of spiritual care. But undoubtedly most of us are in need of that thorough downtime that’s dedicated to repair, reflection, creation. Our world has never been so frenzied and frenetic. We need to take that downtime, because no one is going to take it for us! Our mental, spiritual and physical health require time to unwind in a thorough manner.

If you can’t afford a fancy retreat somewhere, how could you make a day off “retreat-like”? Turning the phone off for a day would be a nice start. (Come on! You can do it. Stop using “Well, it could be an emergency” as an excuse. We lived a long time without our precious cell phones.) Picking up that book you’ve been meaning to read. Writing about any old thing in your journal. Going for a long walk. Reflecting on your past and how it’s lead you to where you are now. Being at peace with yourself.

Retreat. Reflect. Revive.