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 April 6, 2024

Most of us weren't raised to be quitters, and that's a good thing! However, if you haven't experienced the euphoria of intentionally quitting something you don't like or aren't good at, or something that simply doesn't serve you anymore, I highly recommend it. There is freedom in simply letting go and putting down that terrible book you've been trying to finish for two months or dropping that hobby that has somehow become an obligation. Adam Phillips, a practicing psychoanalyst and author of “On Giving Up," spoke to CNN about the inherent ickiness we feel when we are tempted to give something up. “We tend to value, and even idealize, the idea of seeing things through, of finishing things rather than abandoning them,” Phillips says in the book. “Giving up has to be justified in a way that completion does not … (it) is usually thought of as a failure rather than a way of succeeding at something else.” So let's turn that around. Quitting often takes a lot of courage, so maybe it's better to think of it as simply choosing a new path — to success, to peace, to better reading experiences, to wherever you want to go. 

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Our favorites this week

Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week

Please take our goats

The tiny, remote Italian island of Alicudi, off Sicily's northern coast, has no hotels, no roads and roughly 100 people. They also have goats, and ideally, residents like to keep an even goat-to-person ratio. However, the island has recently been overrun by six times its desired number of goat inhabitants. Local authorities really don't want to cull them, so instead, they are offering people a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Come to the island and take a goat home with you. Really. Alicudi's mayor Riccardo Gullo says you don't have to display any special skills to participate in this adopt-a-goat program; you just need a boat to carry them away and the wiles to catch them in the first place. Anyone interested in taking up to 50 goats can make an official request with the community by April 10, though Gullo added that he would extend the deadline until all the goats were adopted.

Read the whole story here. 

Sisters in the mist
Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall turned 90 this week, and to mark the occasion, 90 female photographers have put their work up for sale for 90 days. There are currently more than 30 images for sale, as part of “The Nature of Hope: 90 Years of Jane Goodall’s Impact” campaign that started on April 1, with the work of 10 more artists being released each week, according to the website of sale host Vital Impacts, a women-led, non-profit organization that uses art to support those protecting the planet. From an old Asian elephant strolling through a forest to a little parade of blue-footed boobies, all of the images are inspired by Goodall's legacy and celebrate the natural world. The Jane Goodall Institute, which works to protect chimpanzees and their habitat, will receive 60% of the proceeds.

Read the whole story here. 

Lost and found
Oh, every pet owner knows the joy dog dad Mehrad Houman must have felt when he got word that his lost dog had been found. What was puzzling, though, is how Mishka the dog ended up 2,300 miles away from her home in San Diego. She went missing in July, and in March, a resident of Harper Woods, Michigan called police about a stray dog. Luckily, Mishka was microchipped and a local shelter identified her owners. Even luckier, Houman and his family happened to be visiting Minneapolis for Easter at the time, so he made the 10-hour drive to pick up his beloved pet. 

Read the whole story here, and watch video of their reunion here. 

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Listen up!

This week on the 5 Good Things podcast, we talk to people who are all geared up for next week's eclipse. Plus, learn more about a nonprofit that offers free shower and laundry access to people experiencing homelessness in Arizona and Texas. Catch the latest episode here! 

Hear, hear!

Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.

- Paul McCartney, who praised Beyoncé’s cover of his song "Blackbird" on her new album, "Act II: Cowboy Carter." Originally written by McCartney during the US civil rights movement in the 1960s, “Blackbird” was inspired by the Little Rock Nine, a group of Black students who were the first to desegregate schools in late 1950s Arkansas. 

Who knew?

Quiz time! What year was Superman first introduced in comic books?

Thinking on it? 

Good! 

I'm going to tell you the answer now. 

The year was 1938, and the comic book in question was "Action Comics No. 1," which sold for 10 cents and depicted Superman picking up a car with his bare hands and knocking it into some rocks (aka typical Superman activities). A copy of the comic book, which is in remarkably good condition for its age, just sold for an astonishing $6 million at auction. Heritage Auctions called it  the "most important, impactful comic book ever published." "Without Superman and Action Comics No. 1, who knows whether there ever would have been a Golden Age of comics — or if the medium would have become what it is today," Heritage Auctions Vice President Barry Sandoval said. 

Read the whole story here. 

Rec of the week

Brought to you by CNN Underscored

Shameless animal video

There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now.

This groggy doggy doesn't want to wake up, and who can blame that sweet face? (Click here to view)

Made with love by CNN's 5 Things team. 

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