😁 Curly fries, Wordle, and 18 other unexpected keys to happiness

Want to be happier? Ask the people who’ve cracked the code.

Hunting happiness can be infuriating, which is, you know… the opposite of what you’re going for. It seems that the harder you chase it, the more you work at it, the more elusive happiness becomes. So, what’s the trick? That is the question Mark Wales set out to answer by talking to the people who’ve had a lifetime to figure it out.

The twenty tips, backed by research, fall into three categories: Freebies, Nature, and Hodgepodge*. From finding a stray extra curly fry in the bottom of the bag you thought was empty, to delighting in the hoarfrost on the lawn in the morning, to simple pleasures like Wordle, happiness is easier to find than you might think.

* - If you suffer from an incurable word curiosity as I do, you might delight to know that the “Hodgepodge” comes from an old French stew with just about everything in it.

Image of the day

Let’s build a GOOD Thanksgiving!

Today and tomorrow, we’ll ask you what would go on a GOOD Thanksgiving dinner table, and on Wednesday, we’ll reveal the whole menu and vote on how well we did. Let’s get started!

And what did we learn?

On Friday, Erik Barnes shared tips on breaking the rumination feedback loop.

I wanted to get to know what sort of intrusive thoughts plague GOOD readers, and asked about your go-tos. Nearly half of you have that dumb thing you said that one time on loop.

• Social faux pas highlight reel (44.7%)

• Weird what-if scenarios (15.8%)

• Song lyrics. Always song lyrics. (31.6%)

• That typo in the group text (7.9%)

🐶 From heartbreak to headlines: why she gave up her dog and wrote every day

What happens when you lose everything and still choose love?

Things fell apart fast for Atlanta woman Tiffani McCloud. First, she lost her job, then her home, and suddenly, she was living on the street with just her dog, Lola.

Unable to care for Lola the way she deserved, Tiffani made the painful decision to bring her to a shelter. But that wasn’t the end of their story.

If you are a cynical type, you might interpret Tiffani’s actions as self-serving, an unburdening of one last responsibility, but you’d have it wrong. In this story by Ryan Reed, Tiffani proved her love for Lola by writing the shelter every day, pleading with them to pass her love along.

Shelter Volunteer Jennifer Galloway was moved by the letters and shared Tiffani’s story in a Facebook post. The post found its way to a journalist, Kaitlyn Ross, who spread it further. Community fundraising took off, and a job was found in a heartwarming chain of events that began with Tiffani’s selfless choice in her toughest moment.

⚫ 7 beautiful quotes about depression from the great Robin Williams

Years after his passing, the comedian's insights on sadness, madness, and hope remain a powerful legacy.

By Tod Perry

It has been over a decade since the world lost Robin Williams, a comedic force of nature whose energy seemed inexhaustible. When he took his own life in 2014 after battles with depression and Lewy body dementia, the silence that followed was deafening. How could the man who brought us the Genie, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Mork be in such pain?

But looking back at his vast body of work—from his frantic stand-up sets to his tender dramatic roles—it is clear that Williams possessed a profound understanding of the human condition. He didn't just make us laugh; he made us feel seen, especially those of us who have struggled with our own darkness.

He left behind a treasure trove of wisdom on loneliness, creativity, and resilience. Here are seven of his most powerful quotes that continue to offer light to those navigating the dark.

November 24, 1974, wasn’t expected to be the start of a complete rewrite of our species’ story. But one off-hand choice, this path or that, led exactly there. Donald Johanson and his grad student, Tom Gray, were in Hadar, Ethiopia, and they’d gone out for a few extra hours of fossil hunting, mainly to avoid doing overdue paperwork.

They hadn’t found much, and 51 years ago today, they decided to call it. On the way back to camp, they made one last, lazy decision: take a different gully home. A culvert others had already checked. No reason. Just... sure, why not.

That’s when Johanson saw it: a forearm bone. Later they’d find a jaw. Then ribs. A femur. A spine. Not fragments, a cluster. A partial skeleton, 40% complete.

The team would spend weeks excavating her, and millions would come to know her as “Lucy.” She lived 3.2 million years ago. She walked upright. Her brain was small. And she helped prove that walking came long before thinking big.

All because someone skipped paperwork and chose the long way back.

Do you have something GOOD to share?

We’re always on the lookout for uplifting, enlightening, and engaging content to share with readers like you. If you have something you think should be featured in the Daily GOOD, let me know!

💬 From the group text…

I know GOOD readers love cats* and I know we have some Outlander fans, so there’s some love for Scottish culture. Behold… the resulting Venn Diagram.

* - I know GOOD readers love cats because how could you not?

Join the Group Text! Send us your social media gold.