Three good news stories to make your Monday more bearable.

This morning’s good news is brought to you by Moccona.

Mondays are often synonymous with feeling flat.

The weekend finished so quickly and now you have to get organised for five more days – so yes, Mondays can be really, really hard.

That’s why, for the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you Moccona Mondays – a series of feel-good, happy news stories to help you get your week off to a good start.

It’s a good reminder that there are still a few reasons to smile this morning. So here are three stories guaranteed to get your week off to a positive start, and make your Monday more bearable.

1. The sleepy meerkat video.

Werribee Open Range Zoo has welcomed two baby meerkats in February this year, and have been documenting their movements via a hidden camera. The mother of the two, like most mothers, has been understandably exhausted looking after the new additions to her family.

This nine-second video of the meerkat mum falling asleep despite her best efforts is all of us, and all kinds of adorable.

Watch it here:

2. The story of John Unger from Wisconsin.

A while ago Unger was photographed carrying his arthritic dog, Schoep, into his local lake in order to ease his symptoms – and the photo quickly went viral.

On a widely circulated Facebook post, the photographer who first captured the image said “Shep falls asleep every night when he is carried into the lake. The buoyancy of the water soothes his arthritic bones. Lake Superior is very warm right now, so the temp of the water is perfect. I was so happy I got to capture this moment for John. By the way, John rescued Shep as an 8 month old puppy, and he’s been by his side through many adventures.”

Later, it came out that Unger felt the dog saved his life when he was contemplating suicide after breaking up with his fiancée. Speaking to Duluth News Tribune, he said “To be honest with you, I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have Schoep with me. He just snapped me out of it. I don’t know how to explain it. He just snapped me out of it. … I just want to do whatever I can for this dog because he basically saved my ass.”

The latest update is that sadly, Schoep recently passed away – but now, Unger has adopted a new doggie companion. He uploaded a photo of the two of them on Facebook with the caption “Now I am whole again.”

There’s something in our eyes…

3. The school kids who donated their senior trip money to their teacher.

An American teacher, Courtney Vashaw, recently told her class she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and would need to take time off school.

Her students decided to give their teacher the $8000 they’d raised for a senior trip to help pay for the very expensive cost of her treatment.

Class treasurer Ian Baker explained the decision to local television station WMUR, saying “She’s just very caring, very selfless, and we wanted to be selfless too.”

Wow.

The moment they told their teacher the news was caught on camera, and the footage can help convince even the biggest cynic that good does still exist in the world.

If you don’t feel better after reading not one but TWO happy and adorable animal stories, we can’t help you.

Happy Monday.

Have you heard of any happy news stories lately? Please share!

We believe that mornings should be celebrated. You shouldn’t have to wait for Sunday to give your morning the attention that it deserves. Life is full of special moments, and mornings are especially beautiful if we take the time to savour them. Make your morning moments beautiful with a Moccona