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“A balm for the soul”
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GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

Chie Davis

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This man's dedication to the Boy Scouts shows just how ridiculous their ban on gay leaders is.

It doesn't take a genius to see how cruel it is to have someone spend all their time serving a group that has no plans to love them back.

Hardworking. Honest. Helpful. Respectful.

These are just a few of the many characteristics people associate with being a Boy Scout.

Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images.

As one of the country's biggest youth organizations, the Boy Scouts of America is a household name that holds a lot of significance for young boys and men. For many, it isn't just an American pastime; it's a rite of passage.

So what happens when you realize a group that is seemingly integral to your identity growing up doesn't accept you for who you are?

Liam has been a Boy Scout since age 11. He's also gay.

Despite having a rough start with scouting (during his first camping trip with his brother, he cried — but at least now he looks back on that moment and laughs), he loved being a part of his troop.

About a year later, Liam started to come out to his classmates at school as gay, but he hesitated to come out to his troop because he knew how homophobic the Boy Scouts organization was.

Liam almost didn't get to reach his goal of joining the top ranks of the scouts.

Despite the Boy Scouts' policy, Liam chose not to hide his sexual orientation. With his officially becoming an Eagle Scout on the line, he agreed to be interviewed for his high school newspaper about his experience as a gay scout, even though leadership warned him that he might get kicked out for it and lose his chance.

He did the interview anyway.

Luckily, Liam was able to become an Eagle Scout. But the fight for acceptance of gay folks in the organization is not over.

Geoff McGrath had his scout membership revoked for being gay. GIF from "Clipped Wings."

That means dedicated scouts like Liam are banned from giving back to the Boy Scouts as adult volunteers just for being gay. What kind of message is the Boy Scouts sending to young men if they're suddenly unacceptable the second they turn 18?

It looks like the bravery of people like Liam is having an impact. The Boy Scouts' president called for the ban on gay leaders to be lifted. Here's hoping that soon we'll see the organization's board vote to allow amazing individuals to be members — regardless of their sexual orientation.

Watch the entire documentary "Clipped Wings" to learn more about the fight against homophobia in the Boy Scouts:

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Her Olympic dreams were nearly crushed, until an unlikely coach saved the day.

I'm a sucker for sweet daddy/daughter stories. This is an inspirational one.

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One of Canada's top javelin throwers, 20-year-old Tiffani Hernandez, has her eyes set on one goal — the Olympics.

She's dreamed of carrying the torch for Canada since the ninth grade.

Image via Cable 14.

And, as Alex Malveal of Cable 14 reports, as one of the country's top javelin throwers, Tiffani was well on her way.

She received an athletic scholarship from Florida International University and was excited to start working with their NCAA coaches. She even admits, "I bragged about this to everyone on my track team. I was making it known to the other athletes. I was going to be one of the top athletes at FIU."

Clip via Cable 14.

But then things didn't start off so well for Tiffani. She barely improved at all during her first year.

Nothing was working. She failed to impress, only improving her javelin stats by a centimeter. "I was like, dang, this is kind of embarrassing because a centimeter improvement was not what I was looking for," Tiffani said.

Before she could give up, her dad, Andrew, stepped in to help out.

An insurance adjuster and former sailor, he had never thrown a javelin in his life. Although he's no sports pro, he worked with Tiffani at a local track during her summer break. He said to her, "Tiffani we're just going to have to break it down, get to the basics and we'll get there," she explained. It was less about javelin technique and more about how any person can overcome the challenges before them.

Isn't that what great dads do? Show us how to be even greater people?

Eventually, his small tweaks turned into big wins for Tiffani. "When I tried my dad's way I was getting amazing distance, effortlessly now. And I realized if my dad was right about that, let's keep on listening to him, " she smiled.

It turns out, even a dad who works in insurance can help coach an Olympic hopeful.

Andrew says that his efforts weren't solely about turning his daughter into an Olympian, but helping her learn to overcome challenges.

"I'm more proud of what that process has done for her as a person, her character. That just blows me away. As a parent, when you see a child work at something, whatever it is," he said. "It's fantastic."

Aww, daddy/daughter bonding FTW! To hear more about their story and see Tiffani's javelin skills up close, take a look here:


Family

He asked his dad for relationship advice. Pops told him to look at how he was spending his time.

The task of being fully present for the ones we love may be more important than we know.

I thought I was the only one who composed tweets in my head on a daily basis. Turns out, I'm not alone.

Musician and poet Propaganda admits to having the same thought process. In a spoken-word piece called "Be Present" originally posted by Humble Beast, he confessed, "I tend to think of life in terms of movie clips or tweetable moments. Somehow, I've convinced myself they last longer that way."

The L.A.-based rapper and husband explained how thinking that way caused a rift with his wife.

He zoned out on Twitter during a conversation that they had, and she responded by giving him the silent treatment.

"I was too busy in my head composing a tweet where I would quote her with some sort clever hashtag about marriage and about how much I love her to be paying attention to her at that moment," Propaganda said.

Image of musician/poet Propaganda by Humble Beast.

That's when he knew he had a problem. But it wasn't about social media.

It was about his pattern of not staying focused during their conversations. Whether it be posting status updates, multitasking, or even being distracted by a cutie patootie pet, lots of folks can relate. Propaganda's dad got to the root of the issue while giving his son some advice.

He said that life is all about maximizing time by leveraging our presence.

When we obsess about our past, future, or even try to take advantage of hours by multitasking, it actually sucks away valuable time. He likened it to starting the day "frustrated 'cause you can't find your keys. Focused on the meetings you're going to miss and the traffic you're going to sit in to realize you've been holding your keys the whole time. Slow down."

Making a conscious decision to focus on one conversation at a time and single-task is not only good for our relationships, but also better for our brains.

According to research, only 2% of people are actually good multitaskers. Despite our own judgment, we're actually 40% less productive when we try to juggle multiple tasks at once. Some studies even suggest that certain types of multitasking can lead to a 10-point drop in one's IQ.

A productivity expert in Forbes points out, "It has been scientifically demonstrated that the brain cannot effectively or efficiently switch between tasks, so you lose time. It takes four times longer to recognize new things so you're not saving time; multitasking actually costs time."

Image by Thinkstock.

In a fast-paced era when the average married couple only spends about two and a half hours per day together during the week, we need a reminder of how important it is to be fully engaged with those we love.

As Propaganda further reflected on his father's relationship advice, what he says about developing mindfulness around time is incredibly valuable.

“You'd better keep her on your side. She will slip through your fingers like sand. Her name is Time, and she told me a secret. She said multitasking is a myth. ... And she begged me to stop stretching her thin and stuffing her full and stop being so concerned with the old her and future her but love her now."

Yay! Two snaps for poetic, science-based knowledge!

To hear more thoughts on the importance of being present, check out Propaganda's spoken-word poem in its entirety here:


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A song about people being one gives me happy feelings — all the way through.

Some people in South Africa fear for their lives, but these musicians want to change that.

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A group of South African musicians are tired of seeing their own people hurt each other because of their citizenship status.

In response to recent violence against immigrants, Grammy Award-winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo and singer Salif Keita created a powerful song called "United We Stand." It's upbeat, it's toe-tapping. And the message behind the catchy melody is simple: "Africa is for all of us." Through their music, the artists hope to stomp out fear and hatred toward people of different backgrounds.

GIF via Vintage Motion Pictures.

NPR talked to them about their reason for collaborating. The musicians were shocked when deadly attacks broke out in their region of South Africa in March.

Seven people have already been killed, according to Reuters, which reported that mobs armed with machetes have been seen looting immigrant-owned businesses. Before the attacks, one influential leader said in a speech: “Let us pop our head lice. We must remove ticks and place them outside in the sun. We ask foreign nationals to pack their belongings and be sent back."

Immigrants were being spoken of as "lice" and "ticks" that should be removed from the country.

This awful language divides and separates people, and it's a chilling reminder of the kind of language that was used to incite the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In a place that's still healing from Apartheid, these threats paired with the belief that immigrants are the reason for the country's poor economy further isolate people.

It inspired these musicians to make a statement in a song.

The musicians, who are from South Africa and Mali, believe that uniting through music will help set an example for all.

"We have to send this message that we are all Africans. Africa is for us all." They hope that their song, which calls for peace, love, and an end to hatred, will act as a force of change. “Music, when you are sad, it calms you. You sing, it heals you. So united we stand, divided we shall fall. Let's get together," they added.

Image via Vintage Motion Pictures.

To hear the Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Salif Keita's uplifting song, check it out here:

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And here's NPR's interview with the artists and full report of the events that inspired this collaboration:

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