There is a gun problem. And unless your head is buried deep in the sand, as a global citizen, you recognize that. While the US Congress continues to buddy up to the NRA, the rest of the world has decided enough. Let’s hope these worldwide steps make a difference and lead us to a more peaceful existence. Let’s pray.

“[The treaty] will help to keep warlords, pirates, terrorists, criminals and their like from acquiring deadly arms.”- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the first treaty on the global arms trade, which seeks to regulate the $70 billion business in conventional arms and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful U.S. pro-gun lobbying group that has opposed the treaty from the start, said it was a sad day for the United States, which joined the vast majority of U.N. member states by voting for the pact.

Iran, Syria and North Korea cast the sole votes against the treaty. The same three states last week prevented a treaty-drafting conference at U.N. headquarters from reaching the required consensus to adopt the pact.

Read more at Great News.

Even if you don’t sail, you probably understand the freedom and magic that comes with such an airy pursuit. Sail in your mind today, even if you’re stuck somewhere with nary a breeze!

If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn’t worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality. And to me, sailing the open ocean is a real challenge, because it’s life or death. - Morgan Freeman

I keep sailing on in this middle passage. I am sailing into the wind and the dark. But I am doing my best to keep my boat steady and my sails full. - Arthur Ashe

I use filming as an excuse to take classes. I got my certification in sailing for ‘Wedding Crashers,’ and now I can handle a 26-foot boat. I played a seamstress once, so I took sewing classes. I love dipping into these other lives. - Rachel McAdams

I have no interest in sailing around the world. Not that there is any lack of requests for me to do so. - Edward Heath

What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous. -Thomas Merton

I just had to share with you this inspiring article in Gimundo. It’s written by an author who was suddenly blind at the age of 26. He refers to the idea of hitting a “reset” button in life, as he did when he was a child playing video games. Is there a chance to hit a reset button in life? Can you do it all over again?

If you are looking to begin again, you should first learn what is possible in your new life. Some areas will be easier to master than others: Learning to walk with a cane came easily to me, but Braille proved to be my biggest foe, for example. Finding inspiration, connecting with others in similar situations, and building confidence provided the necessary motivation.

Begin by searching out a mentor — someone who has or is living a similar situation. If you want to get out of debt, you should find someone who struggled to pay bills and avoided debt collectors’ calls. If you are learning to be a single parent, find a woman who not only is a single parent, but also leads a million-dollar company, volunteers for community causes, and still makes it to her son’s games.

I found that having a blind author as a mentor helped me remain patient and have faith that I could eventually learn to iron my own clothes, go shopping, and even travel far distances. This person also served as inspiration for my own writing ambitions. Find a mentor who can provide advice on the current changes in your life and serve as an inspiration for your future.

Read more here.

Thanks again to Brad Aronson, who has been a guest blogger here at Only Positive News several times. He shares with us a touching story of a young girl battling cancer who realizes her inner pop star dream:

It was a star-studded night. After recording her new song at Rotation Records, Amy Hosmer left the studio. She was greeted by about 75 enthusiastic fans. It was an eclectic bunch, ranging from toddlers to middle-aged men. Amy smiled shyly and thanked everyone for coming. Not what we’d expect from a rock star. Probably because Amy isn’t a typical star.

Amy is similar to most little girls I know. She loves the color pink, Barbie, jewelry and makeup. She loves to perform and wants to be a professional singer. The 11-year-old receives a lot of attention, but she’s far from self-absorbed. After praying recently, she told her mom, “I always ask God to take away your pain if anything happens to me.”Amy prays for the people she loves, even when she has so many reasons to pray for herself.

Amy has brain cancer. Her cancer was discovered when she was two-and-a-half. Early treatment reduced the size of Amy’s tumor so that it wasn’t life threatening. Since then Amy has had regular MRIs to check her health. Doctors recently discovered that the brain tumor was growing. On January 30, they will operate.

You have so many hopes, dreams and plans for your kids. You think about what they’ll enjoy doing, what they’ll do in school, how they’ll react to a sibling. You even start thinking way down the line—about them getting married, what their kids will be like, and so on. Then, with news like this, you must suddenly be focused on two things – survival and doing all that you can for your child and the rest of your family.

Amy told her mom, “If I had one wish, I’d wish to meet Taylor Swift and get hints on my singing.” Swift is Amy’s inspiration. Amy’s mom, Etta Hosmer, wanted to support her daughter, so she set up a Facebook fan page to try to help Amy meet Taylor Swift.

When the executives of Rotation Records in Norristown, PA, heard about Amy, the offered her a contract to record a song in their studio. The recording was written and sung by Amy. Rotation Records added instrumental music on top of Amy’s singing and published her single, This Camp, on iTunes. Amy was “beyond thrilled” and practiced every day for weeks before her recording session. Taylor Swift sent Amy some gifts and an autographed photo, which were waiting at the recording studio. Of course, Amy also loved the after-party.

Etta said that the Facebook fan page and the recording contract have been great for her family.

“It did start with a little girl’s dream of meeting her idol, but it is more than that. This site helps me keep my mind focused on positive things instead of focusing on how scary our lives have become once again. Also, it brings awareness of pediatric brain tumors. Most important of all are the people all over the world now saying prayers for Amy,” Etta said. “This party and this special day have been a great focal point for our minds.”

Read more at Brad’s site.

I’m dogsitting for my friend. And boy, its a load of responsiblity. But the pay-off is amazing. She makes me laugh, suprises me with her goofy ways and is, simply put, a tremendous source of love. So today is a dog day. Let’s read what others have to say:

“Happiness is a warm puppy.”
- Charles M. Schulz

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
- Groucho Marx

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”
- Milan Kundera

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”
- Josh Billings

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
- Will Rogers

“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.”
- Dave Barry

My guess is that a large portion of our audience consist of sensitive people. (Hence why we seek out positive news stories; we know how they can lift our spirits.)

For the sensitive types, holidays can be trying. Family dynamics can confuse us. Memories of holidays past can haunt us. And just the frenetic energy alone can simply tire us out.

One way to defray the stressful aspects of a holiday?

Repeat after me:

Just walk away.

That’s right. Leave! You don’t have to go away permanently. But 15 minutes away from your “scene” can help you regain a sense of groundedness.

Take a walk, breathe in the air, think about your spiritual life and growth. Be genuinely thankful for what you have. Then you can return…if you want.

It’s late at night. I can’t sleep so I turn on the old computer and search the Web for a positive story to share with our audience.

I find one about a cheeta cub who stumbles in the lives of a group of humans who take exemplary care of her. And while Sheeba (the cheetah’s name) is eventually released into the wild, I’m filled with a sense of peace and confidence in humankind. And will once again fall back asleep.

Once you begin this story, you will want to reach the rest about this precious little cub:

Every parent knows the bittersweet ache of watching their children grow and leave the nest, but what happens when your baby is not yet two years old and can already run as fast as a car?

No one knows exactly how a one-month-old cheetah cub made her way under the fence of the Ol Pejeta chimpanzee sanctuary in Kenya in October of 2010. It’s no small miracle that sanctuary workers spotted her before the apes could make a meal out of her, yet great concern set in after an extensive search turned up absolutely no trace of the cub’s natural mother. With nowhere else to turn, sanctuary staff loaded the little cheetah onto a jeep and they set off together on a journey into the world of mankind.

“We have added a new member to the family and we are trying to make friends,” explained Sue Roberts of the Sirikoi game lodge in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in her very first blog post about her latest wild orphan. As foster mom to all forms of wildlife including a baby giraffe and an infant porcupine, Sue was well prepared to be patient in bonding with the cub.

Read more about this amazing cub!

Wherever you live in the world, undoubtedly you knew that here in the United States, we had a critical presidential election yesterday. Fortunately (according to this writer), President Barack Obama will remain in office for the next four years. Hopefully he will live up to his promises and make some much needed change to a country in flux and crisis.

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’

I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.

After a century of striving, after a year of debate, after a historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.

Competition. You either love it or you hate it. Most of us have a competitive drive that lies within, waiting for the perfect moment to win, win, win. But can it rule our lives? Can it be petty and unnecessary? Or is it the inner fuel that helps us to push forward?

“What does it mean to be the best? It means you have to be better than the number two guy. But what gratification is there in that? He’s a loser—that’s why he’s number two.”
- Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not for Sale

Take someone who doesn’t keep score,
who’s not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,
who has not the slightest interest even
in his own personality: he’s free.”
- Rumi

“Never compete with someone who has nothing to lose.”
- Baltasar Gracián

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”
- Willie Nelson

“Jealousy is love in competition.”
- Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

“Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.”
- Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Anytime you find someone more successful than you are, especially when you’re both engaged in the same business - you know they’re doing something that you aren’t.”
- Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

“Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.”
- David Sarnoff founder of RCA

“Competition is a rude yet effective motivation.”
- Toba Beta, Master of Stupidity

As we near closer to Halloween, I’ve decided to dig up positive stories with a little spooky feel to them. After all, what’s more positive than the possibility of the supernatural?

This story details a strange broom that stands on its own. Nobody is quite sure…which makes it that much more positively spooky.

Broom Stands on its Own!