Folgers Archives - The Dose of Reality

The True Meaning Of Good Sportsmanship

Posted on December 30, 2013 by The Dose of Reality

You learn a lot of valuable lessons when you play sports, but nothing more valuable than what it means to practice good sportsmanship.

It is more than lining up at the end of the game, win or lose, and shaking the hands of your opponents.

It is more than hitting the winning run.

It is even more than showing up at every practice and giving it your all.

What truly makes someone a good sportsman?

What, especially, makes an entire team good sportsmen?

This. Right here.

In a day and age when we all hear so much about teenagers who are not being their best selves, it is especially touching to see a display of kindness like this one.

In fact, to see an entire community cheering in the stands and on the sidelines was enough to bring us to tears.

These are the moments.

These are the lessons.

This is what we want to pass down to our children. To know what it feels like to give someone a moment that will forever change their lives. To know that something that might feel routine to you, will feel momentous to someone else.

It is easy to get wrapped up in all the negative in the world.

It is easy to think more about winning the game and less about the reasons you wanted to play in the first place.

Seeing Noah score that touchdown was a great reminder that we all need to be a little more generous. Have a little more compassion. Remember that it does not always have to be about us.

The Best Part is an online community that’s dedicated to brightening your day—every day. How? By spreading optimism, one share at a time. The Best Part posts inspirational stories, encouraging quotes, good news and other upbeat items on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram—and encourages fans and followers to share that optimism with their friends. Because when optimism is shared, it grows, making an even more positive impact on our world. Check out what others are sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Born To Make A Difference

Posted on November 11, 2013 by The Dose of Reality

Every now and then you see something online that just speaks to you. It can’t be denied. You can feel it so deep down that you just can’t wait to share it…with everyone.

This happened to us recently when we read a post by our friend The Single Mom in the South. She’s not only a mom and a great blogger, she is also a teacher. One of her colleagues played a video at a faculty meeting.

It wasn’t just any old video. It was a video of a TED talk by an extraordinary educator by the name of Rita Pierson. We played the video not knowing what to expect.

It was the very best way to spend seven minutes and forty eight seconds we can imagine. We laughed, we cried, we both played it several times in a row…and then we called each other to talk about our favorite parts. By the time we were finished we could practically recite the entire talk by heart.

It is just that awesome.

You’ll see.

Her words perfectly exemplify everything that matters in education. She is truly an example of the kind of difference a teacher can make in the life of a child. When you really sit back and think about the incredible power of a teacher to change lives, it is kind of overwhelming and awe-inspiring.

We know just from listening to our children talk about their teachers that they are everyday heroes in their world. Our children share the words spoken by their teachers as if those words are law. We can’t tell you how many times we have heard the phrase, “BUT MY TEACHER SAID…” when we have suggested another course of action. It makes our hearts smile to know that these children of ours are in the hands of amazing teachers who work hard every single day to teach our children.

We both know from our own life experience that when you have a teacher who goes out of their way to inspire you to learn, you never forget that teacher. The lessons you learn from those kinds of teachers extend far beyond the classroom and last much longer than an academic year.

There Is Hope For Us After All!

Posted on September 23, 2013 by The Dose of Reality

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We don’t know about you all, but lately, we feel like everything we hear about is bad news.It is hard to stay optimistic about the world around you when turning on the nightly news is enough to make you want to take to your bed.

Is it really all so bad out there? Is there anything good left in the world?

We decided to find out.

It turns out that, YES, there is hope for us after all!

Hearing the stories we are about share, we felt uplifted and blown away by the kindness of the human spirit.

People are out there, every single day, doing amazing things for other people. Not for the glory or for the name recognition, but because they are just good. These are everyday people just trying to make the world around them a better place. After learning about these people, we feel better. We feel better than better! We feel optimistic about the future and hopeful about humanity!

Folger’s agrees with us. They want to encourage everyone to share stories of optimism and hope in order to brighten all of our days with the launch of their new social media platform called The Best Part.

On it, you will find stories exactly like the ones we are about to share with you.

An Incredible Act Of Bravery

You honestly have to see this one to believe it.

To see someone take that kind of personal risk to help a stranger and *literally* save his life was absolutely awe-inspiring.

A True Act Of Pure Generosity

To celebrate his 58th birthday, Bob Blackley withdrew $750 in $5 bills from his credit union account. He then stood on a busy street corner holding a sign that said, “I HAVE A HOME, I HAVE A JOB, COULD YOU USE AN EXTRA $5.00?” It took a little over 3 hours for him to give away all $750. His dream, he says is to win the lottery so he can travel around the state giving away $100 bills. That is a dream we would love to see come true!

The Ultimate Lesson In Doing The Right Thing

When homeless man Glen James found a backpack filled with $42,000 in cash and traveler’s checks outside a Best Buy, he immediately turned it in to police.

Another man named Ethan Whittington was so inspired by the honesty of Mr. James that he started a fund to attempt to help the homeless man. To date it has raised $140,537 for his living expenses and medical care. That is truly a testament to the ripple effect of doing good.

We’re tired of only hearing about doom and gloom. We want to be uplifted and inspired! We have decided to spend more of our time seeking out hopeful stories of humanity at its best.

We agree with Anne Frank: