50 Times People Found Unexpectedly Wholesome Posts On The Internet Where Strangers Had Each Other’s Backs (New Pics)
You know, Pandas, it’s really way too easy to focus just on the negatives. In fact, we’re hard-wired for that. It’s called negativity bias and it means that we dwell on the awful things that have happened to us more than the awesome ones. So with all the news about just how bad things are looking recently, you’d be perfectly right to be anxious and upset. However, we shouldn’t forget that, at the same time, life’s full of beauty, wonder, and wholesomeness. Albus Dumbledore told us that happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, but we have to remember to turn on the light. Well, let’s turn that light on, shall we?
Today, we’re featuring the best posts from the r/gatesopencomeonin subreddit, a 356k-member-strong community that celebrates people acting excellent and being wholesome to each other. It’s the kind of stuff that really restores part of your hope in humanity. And it’s a reminder that we have to strive to be altruistic and kind, especially when things are looking tough.
Upvote your fave pics as you’re scrolling down, Pandas. And tell us all about the nicest thing you’ve done for someone recently, in the comments. Meanwhile, check out Bored Panda’s interview about how to live a happy and healthy life, as well as how to be nice to others when we don’t feel like it, with writer Ariane Sherine, the author of ‘How to Live to 100’ and ‘Talk Yourself Better.’
Oh, and if you’d like some more proof that people totally have the potential to be awesome, take a peek at our earlier articles about the ‘Gates Open, Come On In’ community here: Part 1 and Part 2.
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I Needed To Hear This. I'm So Tired
A Guide To Gift Giving
A Surprise Happy Ending?
The ‘Gates Open, Come On In’ subreddit has been delighting redditors (and more!) around the globe since early 2018. In the 4+ years since being founded, it’s carved out a niche of wholesomeness, hope, and good vibes by being the polar opposite of r/gatekeeping.
They only have two rules: there’s no gatekeeping allowed and you have to be nice. That’s it. Really. It’s a pretty straightforward recommendation for living a good life, isn’t it? Besides, it’s refreshing when you focus on the positives for a change, isn’t it?
Better Late Than Never
The last sentence explains it perfectly. Although there is an expiration date and that is death.
Remember, Everyone Has A Purpose
An Email From My Computer Science Teacher, Who I’m Not Even Taking A Class With This Semester. Genuinely Want To Cry Rn
(Probably) everyone wants to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. But it’s a hard thing to do in practice, especially when you’re bound by doubt, anxiety, and fear. Bored Panda reached out to author Ariane, who has written about health and happiness, to understand what contributes to our satisfaction with life the most. Really, it’s mostly about altruism and having a tight-knit social circle (among a few other things).
“Close, fulfilling relationships with others are one of the most important things when it comes to happiness, whether romantic or platonic. Studies show that the more close friendships and relationships you have, the longer you live,” Ariane shared with Bored Panda. “Volunteering and helping others are also likely to make you happy.”
Be Free To Like Things
Me: yeah, I'm really into real ales and metal music. Rando: oh really? What year was the first IPA sold internationally and what blood type is James Hatfield?
One Letter Makes All The Difference!
This Made Me Really Happy
Other things that play an important role in our overall happiness include being fit, having a fulfilling career, and not focusing on the material side of things too much.
“There are other things that contribute to happiness and well-being including taking regular exercise, eating healthily, having enough money to feel comfortable, having job security, and enjoying experiences rather than possessions,” the writer explained.
True Spirit
Making A Kid’s Day!
Just Let Them Be They
“Self-care and taking time for yourself are also very important. But I'd say close relationships are probably the most essential things to happiness,” she stressed what we should all be focusing on the most.
It’s easy to be kind to someone when we’re feeling great, the sun’s shining, and it’s like we’re on top of the world. It’s far harder when we’re miserable, exhausted, and feeling down. Bored Panda wanted to get Ariane’s advice on how to be nice to someone when we’re down in the dumps and overwhelmed with problems.
Unexpected Coming Out Story
Never Walk Without A Bro
Grandmas Are Always A Bastion Of Wholesomeness
“It's worth remembering that being kind to others can also lift you up too. In fact, the easiest way to take your mind off your own problems is to help someone else with theirs,” she said.
“But if you're feeling really lethargic and low, the best thing is probably to sleep, or at least rest,” the author pointed out that there’s nothing wrong with getting some well-deserved rest. Getting some proper sleep is a piece of advice that really deserves more attention than it gets.
Wear Whatever Makes You Happy!
So many schoolboys protesting their school's dresscode by wearing skirts (not allowed to wear shorts in the heat). Why not just keep the skirt? They are amazingly comfortable in the summer :)
Liberal Arts
I Love Sharing My Book Collection
We were also curious about how people can control their anxiety better, especially if they’re worried about the economy, the war, and the pandemic. Ariane shared some of her thoughts about becoming more resilient during tough times. The important thing here is to control what you can and to let go of what you can’t affect.
“It's a matter of doing what you can to make your own situation better, and then accepting that you can't control everything,” she said. “You can never control everything, and trying will make you even more anxious. But you can control certain things to reduce your risk.”
On A Cathedral Door
As a Christian, I agree. From what I remember, gatekeeping and judging isn't our job, that's for the big guy at the end of the road, most we can do is be faithful and help along the way.
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This fills my heart with joy and I’m not religious at all but would love to visit the cathedral.
That's the thing, you don't have to be religious to want to join somewhere you are welcomed and made to feel like you belong. All churches should be making people feel that way. When I moved house when I was a child, we tried out a few churches, and there were some where we just didn't get the sense we were welcome. The one we settled on (which happened to be the one my grandparents went to) we stayed because, despite no other young families there, we were welcomed with open arms.
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this is the kind of christian i’m proud to say i am 🥰 i will love you whether you’re a baby christian, atheist, muslim, jewish, follow a different religion, or you are traumatized by religion as a whole. it doesn’t matter to me, this world needs kindness! (edited for spelling)
You are the kind of Christian all Christians should be!
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If I felt this welcomed and unjudged, I'd probably be in church every Sunday.
You should be welcomed. It saddens me that so many churches don't present themselves that way. Jesus taught people they were all welcome with him and we should do the same. I don't want to assume anything, but did you ever try out different denominations? I know a lot of the big churches, while saying the opposite, can be fairly cold to newcomers. My family had to 'shop around' a few churches and denominations when we moved to a new area and some just didn't make us feel at home.
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I hope you don't mind me getting serious for a moment Shelli, because I know it was a joke, and it did actually make be smile, but this is something that's been on my mind a lot in recent years. I'm sure the majority of people online would say it's not okay to be hateful, but then there always seams to be an exception to that rule that people will jump all over without a second thought. Think for example about how, rather than addressing the issues and having a constructive conversation about mental illness, so many will call Trump hateful names. Or rather than discuss the best way to pull people out of hate groups and change their minds, you get a lot of 'I hope they die' type of comments. Or think of cancel culture. Someone makes one regrettable mistake, and they're done in the public's eye, with no chance of redemption. The internet seems to breed this kind of de-humanizing mob mentality, and I think a lot of folks that are guilty of these behaviors are blind to their own hypocrisy.
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I don't mind noisy babies in church. It means there's a child with a healthy set of lungs and a family doing something together that they feel makes their lives better. A church full of kids is a living, growing church. Our Vietnamese priest learned the word "onesie" yesterday and it was adorable.
I agree. My minister said as much, even in the middle of an unrelated sermon, if he felt parents were embarrassed or felt they had to take the babies outside.
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Can we have that on every church door and in every believers heart, please?
Some years ago I went to London with a friend. We found out thst there was a free organ concert at Westminster Abbey. We are both atheists but we love the grand architecture of churches, and we love the sound of pipe organs, so of course we went. The next mass was right after the concert. We were raised catholic but are both atheists now, but we decided to stay, just to see how differently the Anglicans do their thing. We just wanted to sit in silence in a corner and just observe, but that's not how things are done at Westminster Abbey. We got handed a sheet of paper, a complete transcript of the mass, so we would know what's going on, and could actually say the right things at the right times. And the priest started with saying he welcomes everyone present, no matter if you are a devoted Christian, someone staying after the concert, or just someone who wanted to enter the Abbey without paying. It was genuinely a lovely experience.
It does make such a difference to be welcomed in that way. We had a minister for about 15 years who would say the same. I think the ones after did too, but he is the one I remember.
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This is the sort of statement we made at my church, we just didn't have it printed out like this. When my family joined the church we were the only one with young kids at the time and the minister specifically said to my mum, you don't have to take the kids out if they make noise etc, they are just participating in their way. This meant a lot to her. Similar things were said to other people as well, like the ones who were not big believers but came because they were grateful for thee free lunch we put on for people during the week. It didn't matter if they didn't believe, or were new to it (or were not able to dress as well or be as clean as others).
Just don't ask me to shake hands with, hug or kiss some stranger I happen to be sitting near. If you do, I will not be back.
I'm sorry...but flat earthers should be banned.....or rather pushed off the edge
My great grandma recently died and I traveled to her funeral, which was held at the church she went to. A sign super similar to this was on a wall and they had a dish full of pride pins. I had a chat with the priest after the ceremony and it was such a breath of fresh air. My old church was pretty liberal but still not keen on LGBTQIA+ people. I was always afraid to come out to my great grandma because I didn’t want to ruin my relationship with her before she died, but, knowing she would’ve accepted me made me so happy. This is how all places of worship should be.
Now this is the epitomy of Christianity. Got loves EVERYONE no matter your past, present or future. He loves you.❤️
A cathedral is a safe and peaceful space meant for revising and reevaluating your choices. It does not matter who or what you identify as or even your religious status as long as you respect the space and the people in it. Everybody should be welcome to use a cathedral and take what they feel is necessary from the experience without being discriminated against.
I think it is included in the "gay" part in "We extend a special welcome". Writing out all those included in LGBTQ+ would need a whole new paragraph. I certainly feel included.
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Shared Spaces
A Grown Man Indeed
Love this! I can’t imagine that’s not the response she usually gets
Ariane gave an example of how this works: “For instance, I wear an FFP2 mask on the train to work because I can control that, but no one else wears one these days. So it's possible that I'll still get Covid as no one else is masking up, but I just have to accept that, because my train journeys are essential.”
Custom Veganism
My Music Taste
This is so me. My playlist can go from Metallica to Backstreet Boys to Beethoven's 5th
During an earlier in-depth interview, Suzanne Degges-White, Licensed Counselor, Professor, and Chair at the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at Northern Illinois University, shared with Bored Panda how our family values, spiritual beliefs, and even our biology all play a crucial role in our altruistic actions.
"Many of us are raised to believe it is the 'right thing to do.' Basically, all spiritual belief systems have a version of the 'Golden Rule, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ "We also do good turns because we know that one day we may be in need of a little 'generosity from the universe,' so it's like putting 'money' into a karma account," she shared how people think.
Easy Come, Easy Go
This Dad Is A Legend
Rob Zombie Taking On Anyone Who Wants To Gatekeep Metal
"Lastly, humans are wired so that when we do something kind for another, we feel good about ourselves and neurotransmitters like endorphins and oxytocin have been shown to get a boost when we do something good for another. It is through cooperation that society functions, so the survival of the human race depends on being willing to help others. Family values, spiritual beliefs, and biology all play a part in this motivation," the professor explained to us.
What A Great Sign
Ok Zoomer
"Many of us take pride in being of service to others as it is culturally valued and we want to hold significance in our worlds. So when we do good deeds, we show others our willingness to help those in distress/need; we live out faith-based encouragement to treat others the way we would like to be treated, we uphold family values, and our brains get a positive jolt of happiness when we help others.”
Tiredness
Fixed A Stupid Meme
Your Trauma Is Valid
Everyone Gets To Complain About The Weather
Honestly, apparently some other countries have been mocking us in the UK for not being 'able to handle the heat'...WE'RE NOT CONDITIONED FOR IT! Most of us vary between glow-in-the-dark white and cooked lobster red! WE ARE GOOD AT RAIN!
Klingons Kinda Inclusive
its a very good analogy for trans people i suppose Klingons dont care what gender you are as long as you a warrior with honour
It's For All Of You
Do What You Like
in that case, i will leave the note stickers on my piano keys, and continue to play with one hand, until i am ready to play with both hands 😁
Reading Goals
I needed this. I only just completed my 3rd book for the year - its been difficult to find time to sit and read. I am trying to fill more time by reading rather than being online. I hope to have read at least 5 books by the end of the year
Melon Flavored Jellyfish's Mom Says The Gates Are Open
Opening The Gates To Readers Of All Ages
Ambisexual
Gotta Clean Up
I'm Sure Many Of Us Needed To Hear This
F*****g THIS! Everyone has something different that they can do . Sometimes it's petitions ,sometimes it's protests,sometimes it's writing letters ,sometimes it's survival,sometimes it's education. The only path that isn't ok is turning a blind eye to the problem.
Vegan BBQ
Slap Some Dang Rice
Nice Flex
We love a mob psycho 100 reference! A really great and wholesome manga/anime too
Metallica Welcomes Everyone
It's A Big Ask But I'm Behind It
Note: this post originally had 104 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I learned a lot from this list. I didn't realize i do so much gatekeeping, and i want to decrease it.
Hey when you know better you do better and it's cool you realized it now!
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Friendly reminder: downvotes are NOT dislike buttons. Downvoting a comment just because you don't agree = not cool. If a comment gets downvoted, its author will get banned from the site. So please downvote only in case of obvious spam ("how to make cash") or if someone is literally harrassing a fellow panda
Damn. One downvote that could be a mistake or petty revenge gets the author banned? That sucks.
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I learned a lot from this list. I didn't realize i do so much gatekeeping, and i want to decrease it.
Hey when you know better you do better and it's cool you realized it now!
Load More Replies... Friendly reminder: downvotes are NOT dislike buttons. Downvoting a comment just because you don't agree = not cool. If a comment gets downvoted, its author will get banned from the site. So please downvote only in case of obvious spam ("how to make cash") or if someone is literally harrassing a fellow panda
Damn. One downvote that could be a mistake or petty revenge gets the author banned? That sucks.
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