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I don’t know about you, but all of this [gestures widely at the general state of things] has been getting to me a bit lately. And when that happens, I’ve learned that the best way to pull myself out of the funk is to find joy in simple things. The fleeting colors of a beautiful sunrise. The hilarious quirkiness of my cats. The sound of my kids’ laughter.

Big happiness can be found in little things, especially when you add a bunch of them together.

So without further ado, here are 10 things that can bring us all some joy as we head into our weekend.

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A puppy riding a rooster is the unexpected therapy we all need.

🐷🐔🐶Bonito viernes🐶🐔🐷 https://t.co/oRvadZQinY

— Stephanie Mireles (@StephiMireles)
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What is even happening here? How did these puppies and roosters meet? When did they become friends? Who knew a rooster would ever do anything like this? So many questions, but honestly, who cares. It’s friggin’ adorable.

You can see the exact moment this cat says, “Oh crap,” and it’s just perfection. 

This is Luna. In her defense, that is her bed. 14/10 she did nothing wrong https://t.co/09C4znnauJ

— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates)
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It’s the cat’s Jim Halpert stare at the camera at the 10-second mark that pushes this video over the edge. Hilarious.

Spanx founder surprised her 500 employees with two first-class plane tickets and $10,000.

Sara Blakely sold fax machines door-to-door and started Spanx with $5,000 in savings & no experience.

She never ra… https://t.co/jX65k0FqKE

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano)
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After selling the majority share of her company, Sara Blakely shared the wealth with her workers in the form of two first-class plane tickets and $10,000 to spend wherever they went. An awesome example of taking care of the people who help you build success. Rock on, Sara Blakely. Read the story here.

A dad of an autistic boy shared how a U.K. football club made him feel at home.

A dad took his autistic son to an Arsenal football game, and when he became overstimulated, he was going to take him home. But a kind employee intervened and took them to the club’s sensory room, which is set up for people who might experience sensory overload at the game. Read about this beautiful example of inclusion here.

Every parent has experienced the planking baby vs. carseat fiasco. Too familiar, and too funny. 

Seriously, when they do this it’s nearly impossible to get them to bend without feeling like you’re going to break them. It’s like a superhuman ability all babies are born with.

Awesome teacher wrote an official letter to the tooth fairy on behalf of a student who threw away their tooth.

It’s even on official school letterhead! Gotta love a grown-up dedicated to keeping magic alive for kids.

Chris Evans’ giddiness over playing Buzz Lightyear is the most delightful thing ever.

You’d think playing the studly superhero Captain America would be the pinnacle of an actor’s career, but Chris Evans has never gushed over that role like he has over getting to play Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s upcoming film, “Lightyear.” Check out how he talks about playing his dream role here.

These twin toddlers giggling their way through their first Target experience are all of us.

This is the soundtrack in my head every time I get to peruse the perfectly organized aisles of Target by myself. Target is magical.

A kid wanted her “most precious” rock to be put on display at the museum. Mission accomplished.

Good morning to Bethan and Bethan only https://t.co/1U5iyXm1xV

— Ian B (@TheAdmiral)
1635317064.0

The plaque reads, “On 23rd August 2019, Bethan visited Poole Museum. After talking with her mum about what museums do, Bethan decided she wanted to donate her ‘most precious’ rock to the museum. She asked that we put it behind glass and look after it, so that everyone could see and enjoy it.”

This is the way. Well done, Poole Museum.

Puppy pandas. I REPEAT. PUPPY. PANDAS. 

Who is ready for puppy pandas?

Credit Imgur/SusanaTerror https://t.co/Mz00uMnfzY

— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney)
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And just when you think it can’t get better, puppy lions show up. This is seriously the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.

If that last video alone didn’t make you smile, please seek help.

Hope that brought a little sunshine to your day. Come back next week for another roundup of joy and delight!

As debates over vaccine mandates raged this summer, United Airlines took the decisive step to require all employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Employees who applied and were approved for a medical or religious exemption would be placed on medical leave and risk losing income. Those who refused the vaccine and did not receive an exemption would be terminated.

The not-messing-around approach worked smashingly. Prior to the deadline, only a fraction of a percent of United’s staff—320 out of 67,000 employees—ended up choosing termination. That left United Airlines with an astounding 99.5% vaccination rate.

United took a risk and it paid off. Not only did the company retain the vast majority of its workforce, but applicants started clamoring to work for the airline. According to The New York Times, the airline received 20,000 applications for approximately 2,000 flight attendant positions after the vaccine mandate was announced.

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“Job applicants said they were excited to join a company that took employee safety seriously. United has received 2… https://t.co/Dl4W9Ww287

— Kim-Mai Cutler (@kimmaicutler)
1633274504.0

United kicked off a trend. Other airlines followed suit, and we saw more and more companies requiring employees to be vaccinated.

Vaccine mandates have proven successful, but not without controversy. Within an already understaffed health care industry, the risk of losing employees who refuse to be vaccinated is real. So is the risk of unvaccinated health care workers treating patients.

In California, mandates for health care workers resulted in a huge uptick in vaccinations. The same thing happened in Texas. Despite predictions of a mass exodus of New York and New Jersey health care workers, only a small number chose to quit when mandates took effect. In fact, many of those who chose to stay on and take the alternative weekly testing option decided to get vaccinated after just a few weeks of being swabbed.

Mandates clearly work—but it’s maddening that we have had to resort to them. Some success stories have proven that mandates aren’t always necessary to reach a high vaccination rate. After being the only team in the NFL to have zero COVID-19 cases during last season, the Seattle Seahawks made a strong push to get their staff and players vaccinated. The NFL asked for teams to try for an 85% vaccination rate; with just one player declining, the Seahawks hit a whopping 99% vaccination rate weeks before the football season even began. By the time the season officially started, the NFL reported that 93% of players across the league had been vaccinated—a far higher percentage than the general population.

Perhaps that’s due to the stringent protocols players who aren’t vaccinated have to go through. Perhaps it’s the sense of competition within the league and the knowledge that COVID-19 outbreaks can derail a team’s chances of a winning season. Perhaps it’s because NFL players are supportive of science and common sense than the average American. Whatever it is, the NFL has proven it’s possible to create a culture that results in a high vaccination rate without mandates.

If only we could figure out how to create that culture in this country as a whole.

There are legitimate debates to be had about the government mandating vaccines (despite public schools having mandated vaccinations for more than a century), but it’s harder to argue against private businesses and organizations requiring them as a condition of employment or participation. People sure do try, though. Anti-vaxxers and “freedom fighters” who disagree with all manner of mandates in the name of personal liberty are loud and proud in their stance. But that doesn’t mean they’re right.

According to Gallup, the majority of Americans support COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Other polls, including one from Fox News, have found the same thing. If mandates are going to help us stop losing tens of thousands of Americans every month, bring them on.

In a global pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 700,000 Americans in a year and a half, vaccines that lower the risk of infection and transmission and greatly lower the risk of hospitalization and death are a gift. Mandate or no mandate, getting vaccinated is objectively the right thing to do. It would be fabulous if we could get to a high vaccination rate without creating requirements, but with few exceptions (like the NFL), that ideal has proven to be unrealistic.

If it weren’t for the massive misinformation machine derailing reality for millions, far fewer people would refuse the vaccine. We’re battling a crisis of viral conspiracy theories in addition to the actual viral pandemic, and something has to give.

Roy Wood Jr. isn’t one to mince words, so the standup taking a stance on racism in movies is certainly no surprise. The Daily Show correspondent saw his third hour-long standup special hit Comedy Central on Friday night, and one of the highlights from “Roy Wood Jr.: Imperfect Messenger” is the above clip where he highlighted a little-acknowledged form of allyship in his mind: playing an extremely racist character in period pieces about the Black struggle.

In a clip Comedy Central released ahead of its premiere on Friday, Wood Jr. addressed actors who have taken on extremely racist roles and said they’re impact on people is extremely underrated.

“Because here’s the thing if you’re going to have a Black struggle movie, and you’re going to tell the truth that means you need to show some heinous sh*t happen,” Wood Jr. said. “And to show heinous sh*t happening that means you have to have white actors being motherf*ckin terrible on camera. You gotta have it.

Wood Jr. said he’s met some of these actors, who he calls “normal white boys” who have to “walk on set and just turn on the racism.”

“You’re going to tell the history of my people the right way, every now and again you’re going to need a white actor being a heinous mother f*cker on that camera,” Wood Jr. said, citing Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in Django Unchained as evidence.

“Leonardo DiCaprio transformed in that movie,” Wood Jr. said. “That was one of the bravest white allies I’ve ever seen in my life.”

They love to say Tom Cuise does all his own stunts,” Wood said, describing some particularly uncomfortable scenes from the movie. “Well so does Leonardo DiCaprio.”

You can watch the full clip above.

As previously announced back in July, Nicki Minaj will be taking the place of regular host Andy Cohen for one of the biggest housewives reunions this year. The Real Housewives Of Potomac need a stabilizing force like the Sagittarius energy Minaj brings to the table (yes, obviously I’m bringing up astrology and Housewives in the same post, sue me) and that’s exactly what they’re going to get. Though we don’t yet know what all is going to go down in what are often very dramatic rehashes of the season, it’s now clear that Minaj will be part of it.

In a dramatic teaser clip, all the ladies react to Minaj walking into the set:

The longer trailer shows that Andy will definitely be involved as a host and moderator for some of the reunion, which stretches to a whopping four parts (!) but ends with the clip of Nicki walking in, that’s excerpted above. Check out the full trailer here:

This will be a more positive moment for Minaj, who has been embroiled in a not-so-great moment for her collaboration with Jesy Nelson, “Boyz.” The former Little Mix member has been accused of “blackfishing” in the clip, and though Nicki has defended her, most of the internet agrees that Nelson’s portrayal was offensive.

We’ll see if Nicki can steer the topic away from herself and her own drama while she moderates this reunion.

Trae Young has been one of the figureheads for the NBA’s changes to how referees call fouls on unorthodox movement by offensive players designed to draw fouls, but on Friday he drew a fine from the league for a different reason: making contact with an official during a 122-111 loss to Washington.

The $15,000 fine created yet another layer to the discourse around Young’s playing style and frustration with referees, but the chatter seemed to cross a line for him Friday evening when he took to Twitter to explain himself.

“Not THAT mad,” Young wrote.

Young has only attempted 22 free throws through the first five games of his season compared with the start of 2021-22 when he put up 64 free throws in the first five contests. The All-Star guard has a career free-throw rate of 41.4 percent but so far this season, he is taking just 22 free throws for every 100 field-goal attempts. While it might add some stress into his approach to the game, Young is still scoring 25.5 points per 36 minutes and the Hawks have opened the season 3-2.

With all that said, it’s easy to see why Young wanted to calm things down a little bit as the narrative started to get out of control that he was somehow feuding with the officials.

As debates over vaccine mandates raged this summer, United Airlines took the decisive step to require all employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Employees who applied and were approved for a medical or religious exemption would be placed on medical leave and risk losing income. Those who refused the vaccine and did not receive an exemption would be terminated.

The not-messing-around approach worked smashingly. Prior to the deadline, only a fraction of a percent of United’s staff—320 out of 67,000 employees—ended up choosing termination. That left United Airlines with an astounding 99.5% vaccination rate.

United took a risk and it paid off. Not only did the company retain the vast majority of its workforce, but applicants started clamoring to work for the airline. According to The New York Times, the airline received 20,000 applications for approximately 2,000 flight attendant positions after the vaccine mandate was announced.

---

“Job applicants said they were excited to join a company that took employee safety seriously. United has received 2… https://t.co/Dl4W9Ww287

— Kim-Mai Cutler (@kimmaicutler)
1633274504.0

United kicked off a trend. Other airlines followed suit, and we saw more and more companies requiring employees to be vaccinated.

Vaccine mandates have proven successful, but not without controversy. Within an already understaffed health care industry, the risk of losing employees who refuse to be vaccinated is real. So is the risk of unvaccinated health care workers treating patients.

In California, mandates for health care workers resulted in a huge uptick in vaccinations. The same thing happened in Texas. Despite predictions of a mass exodus of New York and New Jersey health care workers, only a small number chose to quit when mandates took effect. In fact, many of those who chose to stay on and take the alternative weekly testing option decided to get vaccinated after just a few weeks of being swabbed.

Mandates clearly work—but it’s maddening that we have had to resort to them. Some success stories have proven that mandates aren’t always necessary to reach a high vaccination rate. After being the only team in the NFL to have zero COVID-19 cases during last season, the Seattle Seahawks made a strong push to get their staff and players vaccinated. The NFL asked for teams to try for an 85% vaccination rate; with just one player declining, the Seahawks hit a whopping 99% vaccination rate weeks before the football season even began. By the time the season officially started, the NFL reported that 93% of players across the league had been vaccinated—a far higher percentage than the general population.

Perhaps that’s due to the stringent protocols players who aren’t vaccinated have to go through. Perhaps it’s the sense of competition within the league and the knowledge that COVID-19 outbreaks can derail a team’s chances of a winning season. Perhaps it’s because NFL players are supportive of science and common sense than the average American. Whatever it is, the NFL has proven it’s possible to create a culture that results in a high vaccination rate without mandates.

If only we could figure out how to create that culture in this country as a whole.

There are legitimate debates to be had about the government mandating vaccines (despite public schools having mandated vaccinations for more than a century), but it’s harder to argue against private businesses and organizations requiring them as a condition of employment or participation. People sure do try, though. Anti-vaxxers and “freedom fighters” who disagree with all manner of mandates in the name of personal liberty are loud and proud in their stance. But that doesn’t mean they’re right.

According to Gallup, the majority of Americans support COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Other polls, including one from Fox News, have found the same thing. If mandates are going to help us stop losing tens of thousands of Americans every month, bring them on.

In a global pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 700,000 Americans in a year and a half, vaccines that lower the risk of infection and transmission and greatly lower the risk of hospitalization and death are a gift. Mandate or no mandate, getting vaccinated is objectively the right thing to do. It would be fabulous if we could get to a high vaccination rate without creating requirements, but with few exceptions (like the NFL), that ideal has proven to be unrealistic.

If it weren’t for the massive misinformation machine derailing reality for millions, far fewer people would refuse the vaccine. We’re battling a crisis of viral conspiracy theories in addition to the actual viral pandemic, and something has to give.

If I thought I was alone in this opinion, I might be a little embarrassed. But countless conversations with other moms in my two decades of parenting tell me I’m not.

Target is magical. It just is. Target is like the Disneyland of big box stores. The Happiest Retail Store on Earth.

It’s not that the stuff it sells is remarkably better than any other retail outlet. It’s not that the prices are amazing or that the store feels particularly luxurious. It’s just … satisfying. Especially when you’re a parent constantly trying to keep your house organized while children follow you around undoing everything you’ve done.

Target has everything you need, more than enough of it and has it all perfectly displayed in neat rows. That’s true of a lot of stores, of course, but Target somehow does it better. Maybe it’s the lighting? Maybe it’s how forward-thinking the company is? Who knows. All I know is that a trip to Target alone is a legitimate form of self-care.

To illustrate, check out these toddler twins on their first trip to Target. They are all of us, squealing with delight at the magic that is Target.

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Those Gremlin-like giggles of unbridled joy? That’s what I hear on the inside when I walk through the aisles of Target. Every time.

TikTok user @savyjane shared the video, calling the boys Thing 1 and Thing 2 (a shout out to Dr. Seuss) and writing, “POV: You and your twin are immunocompromised former micropreemies and you experience the happiest place on earth for the first time…ever.”

The commenters loved it. Target even responded, saying, “My Target heart just grew three sizes.” Awww.

“If this isn’t the next Target commercial, I don’t want it…this is pure joy,” wrote one commenter.

“This is how I feel whenever I go to Target too,” wrote another. (See? Not just me.)

And another: “Girl, this is how Target makes ME feel, too.” (Seriously, it’s a thing.)

“Me at Target every single time. Too precious.” (Yup.)

Some of the comments pointed to the fact that the boys were immunocompromised, urging people to take COVID mitigation measures.

“I wear my mask for sweet babies like them,” wrote one person.

“THIS is who we get vaccinated for,” wrote another. “So happy they’re getting to experience new things!”

The pandemic has been hard on all of us, but for parents of kids who are at higher risk and who haven’t been able to get vaccinated, it’s been particularly stressful. Most kids fare okay if they get COVID-19, but there are lots of children with health conditions that make the virus something to avoid at all costs.

Imagining these sweet babies ill is just too much. Not when there’s this much joy to be had with them and from them.

Can you picture these two at actual Disneyland? They’re giddy over the diaper shelves at Target, for goodness sake. Please, @savyjane, pleeeeeaase take these cherubs to an amusement park and mic them up so we can live vicariously through their delight. Do it for the good of humanity. Our weary world needs this ASAP.

It’s nearly impossible to keep a clean house for more than an hour when you have kids, and the more you’ve got, the worse it gets. Unless you have perfectly trained children, you’re always having to nag them to clean up after themselves.

Jessica McGinty, who posts as Mishmash Moments on her Facebook blog, found a solution to picking up after her kids and it stirred up some passionate debate. McGinty has a blended family and is raising five kids all under the age of nine. So you can imagine how impossible it must be to keep everything tidy.

McGinty came up with the ingenious idea of the “fucket bucket.” She has a bucket for each child in the living room and when she sees something lying around, she drops it in the bucket. If the kids haven’t put the contents of their buckets away by the time they go to bed, it gets thrown away.

“If they leave it laying around, it goes in their bucket. If it’s still there at bedtime it goes in the bin because fucket if I’m cleaning it up,” McGinty wrote on Facebook.

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Like anything parenting-related, the post stirred up a bit of controversy. Michelle thought the idea was solid but that McGinty should probably have a name for the bucket that is a bit more kid-friendly.

“The idea is great but perhaps the name isn’t appropriate … what about renaming them ‘chuck-it’ buckets instead,” Michelle wrote.

McGinty cleared things up by telling her that she doesn’t use the F-word around her kids.

Amy thought it was a good idea to use for her husband, too.

“I have given my husband one of those boxes, minus the part about throwing it out,” she wrote. “He is always accusing me of moving his stuff. If it’s laying around, it goes in the box.”

Another commenter thought it was a bad idea.

“Makes zero sense, if you’ve made the effort to move it into the bucket, surely it could have been moved into a toy box,” Belinda wrote. “Just throwing your own money away.”

The idea made another mother irate.

“I couldn’t care less how messy my children were, I’d never disrespect them like this,” Claire wrote. “Shocked people seem to think throwing away other people’s belongings without their consent is a good thing. Great job setting an example of how to treat other people!”

Regardless of what other people think, McGinty says the buckets have been a game-changer in her home. “We’re a blended family of five, nine and under–nine, seven, seven, six, and two. It’s working well so far. I can wander around and pick up any missed things and drop them in the buckets and the kids love them, knowing exactly where things they’ve missed are,” she told Scary Mommy.

People can disagree all they want about the tactics parents use to raise their kids. But in the end, it’s all about the results. McGinty may have gone to extremes to get her kids to be responsible and clean up, but her home and her sanity will be all the better for it.

Multiple news stories of people being stranded in the wilderness have circulated recently, from the tragic story of a family that died of heat exhaustion and dehydration in the California mountains to the odd story of a lost hiker who refused to answer phone calls from rescuers for 24 hours because they didn’t recognize the phone number. And along with those stories has come a wave of viral posts sharing some wise-sounding advice for if you’re ever stuck somewhere without cell service and a low battery.

The problem is, the advice isn’t wise after all.

The viral post suggests changing your outgoing voicemail message to include your location. One version reads:

“If ever lost while hiking, stranded with a broken-down vehicle or other emergency situation, if your cell phone battery is low here is a tip that can very well save your life. Change your outgoing voicemail on your phone to a message that gives your approximate location, the time, the date, your situation; lost, out of gas, car broken down, injured, etc… plus any special instructions such as; ‘You are staying with the car’, ‘You are walking towards a town’ If your cell phone dies, stops working or loses signal your voicemail will still be working. Anyone calling your phone will hear your emergency instructions. They will know you need help and know where to find you or where to send help.“

Sounds smart, but a Colorado rescue team has explained why it’s not:

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The Alpine Rescue Team posted its response to the viral post on Facebook, writing:

“1. Without a signal (connection to the cell system) YOU CAN’T CHANGE YOUR VOICEMAIL. The voicemail system resides with your cell provider. To change your outgoing message, you have to CALL into your voicemail and then navigate the menus, record a new greeting, confirm the new greeting, etc. YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITH NO SIGNAL.

2. If your battery is low do not waste its power by calling your voice mail—or a friend or relative. Call 9-1-1 for help.

3. If you have no signal, text for help to 9-1-1. Many, if not most, 9-1-1 centers can receive a text.

4. Text takes much less power, is far more likely to get through, will automatically retry many times if you have spotty service, leaves record others can see and can give you an indication that it got thru. BTW, because of the automatic retries, you can compose and hit send on a text and then get your phone as high as possible to improve the chances of getting the message out.

5. Stay put. Okay, if you’re lost or broken down and you’ve called for help (assuming you have signal and battery) please stay in one location—UNLESS YOU MUST MOVE FOR SAFETY REASONS. Changing your location makes our job more difficult. Trying to reach someone whose GPS location we have (within a circle, of course) is faster for us than trying to nail down a moving target. STAY PUT.

6. Maximize battery life. In order to make the battery last longer, turn off everything you do not need. Close all apps. Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth. Don’t use your cell phone as a GPS/map device and especially do not use the compass if your phone has one — the compass feature in some phones is a serious battery drain. Pull out your map and compass and/or use a dedicated GPS unit. You may be instructed, by text, to turn your phone off and text back at a specific time. Also, keep your phone just a little warm with some body heat or a handwarmer.”

Many people probably think of their voicemail greeting as a recording saved on their phone, but it’s not. A fact-check by USA Today, which consulted the top three carriers (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile), confirmed that cell service or a data connection is needed to change an outgoing voicemail message. You can do it over wi-fi, but that’s not helpful if you’re stranded on a mountain somewhere. You could change your voicemail greeting before you leave, letting people know where you’re going to be adventuring if you feel comfortable with that, but once you’re stuck without cell service, there’s no changing it.

As always, look for what the actual experts say before passing along a viral social media post, even if the advice it contains sounds smart.

You know what they say, feel the fear and do it anyway. Even if that means doing a double backflip. As one kid showed us, the feeling you get afterwards is worth every bit of discomfort.

The 10-year-old scooter champion Tyler Hainey, aka @tylerhainey, encourages us to follow his “insane flipping journey” on Instagram, where we can regularly catch him learning new tricks. His skills are pretty insane.

Recently, Tyler posted that he “smashed the wall of fear down and smashed it to pieces!!!” along with a video of him effortlessly flying through the air in two perfect circles before sticking a landing at the top of the skate ramp.

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As the the youngest person to land a single backflip at a mere age 7, you’d think this scooter prodigy would view this feat as a piece of cake. However, the tiny athlete wrote that the flip had been “haunting” him since a fall on his head. Clearly the accomplishment meant something important to him, evidenced by his near immediate reaction once he reached the top of the ramp.

Mouth agape, panting and in pure, delighted shock, Tyler yells “how did I just do that?!” A similar reaction I have when I complete my taxes early, though this is far more entertaining.

The Daily Mail reported that Tyler received a split chin needing five stitches while attempting to learn the impressive trick. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dreams and honing his skills.

If there’s something you’ve been wanting to do that takes you out of your comfort zone, just remember Tyler’s ecstatic expression could be yours on the other side of those fears.