A first-grade teacher at a Michigan elementary school is being hailed as a hero after alerting the school principal that her online student’s grandmother was having a stroke.

Julia Koch was teaching her virtual learning class at Edgewood Elementary School on September 22 when she received a call from a grandparent who was having technical difficulties.

When Koch spoke to Cynthia Phillips, who was having trouble charging her granddaughter’s school tablet, the teacher noticed something was off in the grandmother’s voice.

“It was clear there was something very wrong. “She didn’t sound like herself.”

Koch immediately called Charlie Lovelady, the principal of the school in Muskegon Heights, who then got a staff member to call 911 while he spoke to Phillips on the phone.

“I would have died if it weren’t for the teacher being so quick and fast about getting me help,” Phillips told CNN from her hospital bed. (CNN)

Gretchen Lawson: “I have people who ask a lot about what their purpose is.

They want to know why they’re here, what they were meant to do?

Also, how do work, friendships, relationships, play into their purpose?

Gretchen’s answer: You are valuable, you matter. You matter to other people.

You have friends and family around you that care about you.

It can be really helpful, as we figure out our purpose, to seek out the needs of other people, to see outside of ourselves, and see what’s going on around us.

That can also help us to even find out what our strengths are.

We’ll learn what our passions are, what are the things that we are good at and enjoy doing.

It can be so rewarding to serve and help other people.” (thehopeline.com)

Reach out and make a positive difference with your life!

If not today, when?

Over ten years ago, my sister was diagnosed with a mental illness and although she lived a happy and healthy life for much of that time, she lost her battle with her illness on that fall morning.

In the months following my sister’s death, my eyes were opened to a whole new world of mental illness and the stigma that seemed to follow it.

I would overhear people say things about mental illness or poke fun at things associated with it and that infuriated me.

There I was, dealing with the loss of my sister and I would hear people make comments.

It broke my heart that I would hear things like that in my grieving.

There is little understanding with how one should treat their mental illness and little understanding as to what mental illness actually is. (thehopeline.com)

Remember: Kindness and compassion go hand-in-hand!

If not today, when?

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” (Theodore Parker)

Does your life bend the arc toward justice?

Poverty is UNJUST! Does your life help relieve poverty?

Loneliness is UNJUST! Do you take time out to relieve loneliness?

Discrimination is UNJUST! Do you practice discrimination in your words or actions?

Dishonesty is UNJUST! Do you make honesty a basic foundation of who you are?

Lying is UNJUST! Do you speak the truth so that people can trust you?

Disloyalty is UNJUST! Are you loyal to other people and to your values?

You see, it’s up to us to bend the arc toward justice.

We live in a world wherein there are rampant injustices. You can bend the arc today with everything you say and do!

If not today, when?

Observing the breeze blowing gently through the trees, Savoring the delicate taste of a morning cup and curling up with a diverting novel in hand.

Far from being an extravagance, as these acts of self-kindness have sometimes been treated, they are in fact the fundamental building blocks of strong mental health.

In a world that is increasingly time-pressured, it is easier than ever to overlook your personal feelings and needs.

But according to psychologists, the art of self-kindness is not something that should be optional.

Whether it be in the realms of the physical, emotional, spiritual, or indeed professional, being conscious and sensitive towards yourself, is key preparation for everything that life throws at us.

“It can change your life massively,” says Juandri Buitendag, a counselling psychologist.

“The world has changed and there are many things to deal with.”

“Therefore, self-care, self-kindness and empathy is so important.” (www.positive.news)

If not today, when?

Struggling Italian towns are selling off abandoned homes at bargain prices in a bid to reverse a trend of depopulation.

The picturesque town of Salemi in Sicily is the latest to offer up dilapidated properties for less than the cost of an espresso.

Over the next month, a few dozen crumbling dwellings will go up for auction with a starting price of €1, or little over a dollar.

The town’s mayor, Domenico Venuti, hopes the scheme will breathe new life into Salemi, which saw its population shrink considerably when at least 4,000 residents fled following the terrible earthquake of 1968 that rocked Sicily’s Belice Valley.

“Before launching the scheme we first had to recover the old parts of Salemi where the houses are located, upgrading infrastructures and services from roads to electric grids and sewage pipes.

“Now the town is ready for the next step.”

(CNN)

Sicily is an island just off the toe of the boot of Italy.

A flight attendant was furloughed in September.

Before disembarking from her last flight, flight attendant Breaunna Ross shared a message of kindness to her passengers.

“With so much happening in the world, you never know how small actions can impact the next person.”

The 29-year-old told those on board an American Airlines flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to her home in Dallas on Sept. 27.

“Please be kind to one another.”

“Practice compassion with everyone.”

“Live with acceptance of yourself and others.”

“And until I see you guys in the friendly skies again, please take care of yourself and your health.” (today.com)

May God bless you, Breaunna. You put the wellbeing of strangers ahead of your own!

May we all aspire to follow her example!

If not today, when?

It’s been exactly four years since Shannon Benjamin planted a filing cabinet on the curb outside her house in Bay City, Michigan.

She filled it with food, hoping that people passing by and in need would feel free to help themselves.

Now, there are food-filled filing cabinets all over town.

The need in Bay City, as in so many towns across the country, is so great that even the big food pantries are registering unprecedented demand.

Also, on any given Monday, a caravan of cars begins to form downtown. The drivers pull their cars into the parking lot of the local Salvation Army.

These drivers offer a weekly grocery pick-up for essential workers who are employed, but struggling to get by.

Does your city have pity?

If not today, when?

It seems the American medical community has a lot more to learn about women’s health.

For the average woman, the gender bias in medicine means that she may be prescribed a drug that causes unrecognized side effects because it was primarily studied in men.

It means that she’s more likely to have a poorly understood condition, one that disproportionately affects women and has been neglected by researchers.

It means that she’s likely to face a longer diagnostic delay compared to her male counterpart, especially for rare or difficult-to-diagnose diseases.

Health care providers are quicker to conclude that her mysterious symptoms are “just stress” instead of doing a more thorough workup. DOING HARM, Maya Dusenbery)

How unfair!

Why is it that women have to face various types of discrimination not experienced by men?

Let’s face it. Life as a female is much more difficult.

Because of their challenges, they should be honored and appreciated every day in every way!

If not today, when?

… yearning to breathe free!

Yes, I voted early, but I’m casting another vote TODAY!

I’m voting for you, my fellow Americans.

We are the most diverse country on earth and it is our diversity that is our miracle!

All of you and your ancestors before you brought great wisdom from many different cultures.

And your wisdom and unique perspectives enrich this MIXING BOWL we call America!

We need each of you and the contribution you make to our society.

I see your KINDNESS everywhere in the midst of this terrible pandemic.

I have great faith in you and the manner in which you go about living your lives.

And I am so impressed with today’s young people who will guide us into our tomorrows.

As the song says, “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you tomorrow. You’re only a day away!”