How About Some Good News? Here Are Some Positive Stories Happening Right Now To Get You Through The Post-Election Uncertainty

We could all use some good news right about now. Whether you supported him or opposed him, it’s clear that the election of Donald Trump has shaken this nation to its very core and left a cloud of gloom hanging over certain parts of the country. Riots are taking place on city streets. Americans are turning on one another. Even schoolchildren are dealing with the fallout.

With all of that negativity going on, here are some positive things going on right now to lift your spirits and to reassure you that there is good left in the world.

A College Student Spent Eight Hours Giving Out Free Hugs On Election Night

College students have invited their share of ridicule in 2016, with their demands for “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” and such. But we can’t let the misplaced zeal of a few angry young adults paint the wrong picture for us of American college students as a whole. Some rose above their setbacks, and instead of playing the role of the victim, they became healers in a very real sense.

Meet Alejandro Andrade, an 18-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student who stood outside in the cold on election night, holding a sign offering “Free Hugs,” according to The Good News Network

“I had a guy come up to me earlier and ask if I gave hugs to Republicans and I said ‘absolutely. Another girl gave me a hot chocolate as a thank you. Everyone’s been really nice.”

Denver Is Hiring Homeless People As Day Laborers

Being homeless is a terrible situation to find yourself in, but the only thing harder that being homeless is transitioning out of homelessness. Many homeless are addicted to drugs, or suffer from mental health issues, or both. Others have criminal records. And of course, being homeless means that when you’re asked to put an address on your job application, you either have to get creative, lie, or tell the truth and risk having your application rejected.

Denver has introduced a one-year pilot program aimed at helping the homeless, both in the short-term and in the long-term, by hiring them as day laborers. According to The Denver Post, homeless people who want to work can do day labor, such as planting trees, for a day. If they do a good job, they’re invited back for the next day.

Ultimately, the goal is to help people with “spotty” employment records build up a good record working for the city, leading to full-time employment opportunities and, thus, out of homelessness.

There’s The Teeny-Tiniest Sliver Of Good News On The Climate Change Front

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the Earth appears to have developed a mechanism to deal with climate change. Now, don’t get too excited because man-made climate change is still a huge problem, and it’s not going to be solved overnight.

What’s happening is this. Humans pump billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As you remember from high school biology class, plants use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis and other biological processes. The ocean absorbs some of that CO2, and land-based plants absorb some as well. The vast majority goes into the atmosphere to stay there.

As it turns out, it looks like plants have somehow evolved to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Not enough to halt global warming, but enough to slow it down, just a bit.

Any port in a storm, as they say.

[Featured Image by EpicStockMedia/Shutterstock]