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The tiny things quietly draining your happiness
Plus: endangered idioms, one very GOOD skateboarder, Friday pets and 40 years of Phantom.
Greg Sullivan
October 09, 2026 • Est. Reading Time: 5 minutes
“You can't be careful on a skateboard.”
― Stephen King
Happy Friday. Before you disappear into the weekend, Mark Wales has 10 tiny habits that may be quietly making you less happy, along with some refreshingly small ways to fix them. We’ve also got 15 endangered idioms worth rescuing, Adam Albright-Hanna on the 20-year-old skateboarder who changed one little girl’s afternoon, a reader pet who is almost certainly better behaved than all of us, and Phantom of the Opera turning 40.
Everyday Economics
The fixes are refreshingly small.
Your happiness may be dying a death by a thousand little cuts that you don't even notice. A few scrolls, a bit of TV, a yes to a friend's request that you really wanted to say no to. Nothing dramatic. Nothing you'd point to and say, "Yep, that's what's making me miserable," but there you are, at the end of the day feeling down.
Licensed therapist Jeffrey Meltzer identified 10 everyday behaviors that can quietly drag down your mental well-being, and as Mark Wales reports, some are probably sitting comfortably in your daily routine right now. The good news is that his alternatives don't require a personality transplant, a silent retreat or waking up at 4:30 a.m.
Some fixes take five minutes. One asks you to do something before touching your phone in the morning. Another offers a surprisingly practical way to handle complaining without pretending everything is wonderful. And if your brain could use more help getting out of its own way, these anxiety-busting tricks aren't bad company either. Feeling a little better might begin with noticing the tiny things making you feel worse.
GOOD reader Becky Edmonds spotted this little roadside mystery in Dugspur, Virginia, where someone has been balancing precarious stacks of rocks on a low-water bridge over Burke’s Fork. A few days after the first appeared, a second one joined it.
Do you have a GOOD picture to share?
Send us your best images, and we may feature them as the image of the day. Be sure to tell us a bit about your pic.
When two modern-day prophets shine a light on the issues of our day, they incur the wrath of an authoritarian President. On the run, they become symbols for a movement. Lines are drawn in a battle for the soul of the country. Find out why this timely political/spiritual thriller is making waves.
Which Broadway show is currently the longest-running production still performing?The Phantom left behind a very tall record to chase. |
Yesterday's Results
In yesterday's issue, we shared 11 old-school parenting rules that might deserve another look.
And we asked: Which old-school parenting rule deserves the biggest comeback? 60.6% of you chose Regular chores. Somewhere, Grandma is nodding.
Regular chores (60.6%) 🏆
Firm bedtimes (10.3%)
Saying “ma’am” and “sir” to adults (10.9%)
Don’t interrupt adult conversations (18.2%)
GOOD reader Cathain MacTire made the case for the winner: "My kids had chores because I wanted to be sure they could function on their own when they moved out. How will they know how to cook, clean, or do laundry if you don't teach them?" And a few of you would like it on the record that all four deserve a comeback.
Nostalgia | Courtesy of Upworthy
 | ||
15 awesome, endangered idioms almost no one says anymore, but should | ||
“You’re a few sandwiches short of a picnic.” | ||
By Evan Porter | ||
Who doesn’t love a good idiom? An idiom, for the uninitiated, is a common saying that means something different than the literal words might suggest. For example, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” has nothing to do with horses and refers to the fact that you should be grateful and not critical of something someone has given you for free. | ||
Idioms are weird, funny, catchy, and have an incredible ability to convey a lot of meaning in a small number of words. They often have strange or unique origins and evolve over time as they become a key part of the cultural lexicon. | ||
Sadly, not all idioms are made to last. Some of the oldest ones get phased over time as their meanings are lost, and new ones get adopted by the masses. A lot of our most famous idioms come from old English times, but newer ones like “Drink the Kool-Aid,” “Jumping the shark,” or even “Thanks, Obama” originated in the last few decades. (Admittedly, the line between idiom and meme is getting extremely thin). | ||
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Culture
She came to prove that skateboarding wasn’t just for boys; the boys had opinions on the subject.
Many parents have had “oh, whoops…” moments. You know the one. “The ride isn’t that scary, baby,” which leads to you comforting a weeping six-year-old five minutes later as they stumble out of The Haunted Mansion utterly ruined*.
Jeanean Thomas thought she was having one of those moments after taking her six-year-old to the skate park. “It’ll be fun, Peyton, skateboarding isn’t only for boys.” Then, as Adam Albright-Hanna reports, she found herself surrounded by, well, boys. Swearing, smoking, swaggering boys. Should she leave and possibly give her daughter the impression that some places are off limits to her, or stay in a decidedly un-Peyton-friendly place?
Before she could decide, 20-year-old Ryan Carney rolled up, and what could have been a one-and-done shot at an exciting new hobby became a heartwarming viral moment.
* - I really thought he’d have a good time!
Who’s a GOOD boy/girl?
Image of the Day has its own lane, but the pet pics keep arriving, and I am not made of stone. So every Friday, I’ll share one reader-submitted photo of a favorite pet. Want yours featured? Send it along.
And what’s with all the dogs? I love the non-dog pets of the world, but I’m not getting nearly as many submissions of the cat variety. I do get some, but they’ve been blurry or too small. Send me your stunning high-res cats. Break the dog winning streak!
Meet Founder. The title that came with this pic from GOOD reader Claudia was “California Dreaming,” but, with that fluffing coat, maybe not this week, ok bud?
On October 9, 1986, The Phantom of the Opera officially opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, starring Michael Crawford as the Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. Getting there had been appropriately theatrical. During the first public preview less than two weeks earlier, scenery malfunctioned repeatedly and the show’s soon-to-be-famous chandelier actually got stuck.
They apparently worked out the kinks. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical became a global phenomenon, eventually reaching more than 160 million people in 58 territories and 23 languages. Its Broadway production ran for 35 years and 13,981 performances before closing in 2023. And this Friday, exactly 40 years after opening night, Phantom is still playing in the same London theater where it all began. The chandelier, fortunately, has gotten much better at its job.
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💬 From the group text…
It is October, so I am duty-bound to post this video of an owl standing on a pumpkin.
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Until next week, 🎶think of me, think of me fondly!🎶