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31 days of happiness

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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: honoring the grit and grace of Debbie Reynolds. (Day 28)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 28 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

[rebelmouse-image 19530530 dam="1" original_size="400x297" caption="GIF from "Halloweentown."" expand=1]GIF from "Halloweentown."

It's been one year since we lost Debbie Reynolds. The acclaimed star of stage and screen passed away suddenly last winter, just one day after the death of her daughter, Carrie Fisher.

Before her passing, Reynolds left the world with a canon of stupendous performances. But few roles were as charming and carefree as Reynolds' star-turn playing Kathy Selden in the 1952 classic, "Singin' in the Rain."

Reynolds was only 19 when she took on the role, and while she had experience as an actress, "Singin' in the Rain" would be her very first foray into singing and dancing. You read that right: Reynolds had to learn how to sing and dance well enough to keep up with her costars, seasoned performers Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. No pressure!

[rebelmouse-image 19530531 dam="1" original_size="400x300" caption="O'Connor and Kelly. GIF from "Singin' in the Rain"/MGM." expand=1]O'Connor and Kelly. GIF from "Singin' in the Rain"/MGM.

As an experienced song and dance man, Kelly was angry about the casting, but the studio believed in Reynolds, and gave her a shot. She had three months to learn to dance, and she practiced nonstop, nearly 8 hours a day with multiple teachers. The great Fred Astaire even dropped in for a word of encouragement on one especially difficult day.

Reynolds' practice and effort paid off on the silver screen, when she not only kept up her co-stars, but in many ways, outshone them. In the scene below, Reynolds sings and dances with the ease and grace of a performer with a lifetime of experience under her belt. It's ebullient. It's effortless. And once you know how hard she worked for it, it's so, so satisfying.

Here's to Reynolds, and every woman who laughs in the face of a challenge and comes out on top.

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5/ DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / DAY 17/ DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / [DAY 28] / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: A fairy skating princess returns. (Day 14)

Two years after a viral video, this skate queen shows off some new moves.

Thanks for stopping by for Day 14 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note, with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

You might not know her by name, but if you've spent any meaningful amount of time on the internet the past couple of years, you've probably seen one of Rayssa Leal's freakin' awesome skateboard videos while scrolling through Twitter or Instagram.  

Her most famous video, published back in September 2015, features a fairy princess outfit and a heel flip that impressed even skating legend Tony Hawk!

If you've somehow never seen this video, you're in for a major treat. Check it out:

De hoje... Heel flip👊#desfile7setembro #hardflipskateboard #skatefeminino #fadinha #foishow #vivaoskateboard

A post shared by Rayssa Leal 🇧🇷 9yr 🔥 (@rayssalealsk8) on

A little more than two years after that video went up, Leal decided to rock the fairy princess outfit again for an Instagram video that'll have you clapping in amazement — especially if you're (like me) someone who never learned how to stand on a skateboard, let alone do tricks and all that jazz — and sending it to all your friends.

Now 9 years old, Leal's got more confidence than skaters twice her age, tearing it up and making a combination of tricks look like child's play. ... OK, so a kid riding a skateboard might actually fall under the category of "child's play," but you get what I'm saying: She makes it look easy!

Seriously, watch this and let the suspense and joy get your adrenaline pumping and ready to take on the world!

Pretty sweet, right? Check out more of Leal's kickass videos over on her Instagram — seriously, they're all so good — and be sure to stop by tomorrow for another fresh day of happiness!

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / [DAY 14] / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / DAY 17 / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: the most delightful Twitter person on the planet. (Day 12)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 12 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

A lot of the time, Twitter can seem like humanity's worst idea: a 21st-century town square where your closest friends, least-favorite politicians, ornery journalists, badass stand-up comedians, and bitter, aging stars of your favorite teen sitcoms conspire to make you feel miserable about yourself and the world.

Add to the mix a certain ex-reality show host whose every asinine word sends the planet into a collective panic attack, and you have all the ingredients for a self-inflicted nightmare. And yet, it's impossible to stop scrolling.

Saving this feverishly addictive hellscape is the delightful wholesomeness of Jonny Sun, a Canadian humorist, playwright, and all-around sweet-seeming weirdo, who tweets as a delightfully oddball alien character named — appropriately — jomny sun.

If you have the singular misfortune to be on Twitter, you should follow him immediately to bless your timeline with soothing tweets like this:

Delightful, inscrutable tweets like this:

And achingly bittersweet, yet ultimately hopeful tweets about bouncy castles like this:

"With the inflatable bouncy castle, I think it's successful because it's this specific moment of happiness — it has this overwhelming positive effect," Sun told NPR of the viral tweet in 2015.

If you could use some Chicken Soup for the Twitter Soul this holiday season, do your overtaxed, overstressed, over-it-all brain a solid and give Jonny a follow.

Then do yourself a bigger favor and mute everyone else.

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / [DAY 12] / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / DAY 17 / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: a dad's teary reunion with his lost pup. (Day 8)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 8 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and warmth into your life. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

When Butterscotch first went missing, all his humans were distraught — especially the pup's human dad.

The border-collie mix — dubbed "Butters" or "Bubbers" for short — went missing in the Las Vegas area on Nov. 25. Anyone who's gone through a similar experience knows this feeling all too well and can back me up here: having a pet go missing is sobbing-until-you-can't-feel-feelings devastating. You can almost feel the heartache in the "missing" poster Butters' humans shared online.

But! This series is all about happy tails (er, tales) — so, fortunately, Butters' story doesn't end there. About a week and half after Butters disappeared, the pup was found by his humans once again!

In the video below, you'll see one of Butters' humans pull up in a car alongside the curb outside the family home. Butters is happily waiting in the passenger seat. His oblivious human dad pauses for a moment in the yard, clearly shocked to see his furry best friend once again, before sprinting across the street toward the pup.

"BUBBERS!" he yells through tears, clamoring to hug his dog through the partially open window. You can practically feel the joy radiating off the two as they finally embrace, huddled together on the sidewalk. It's no wonder the video has amassed 65,000 Likes on Twitter!

Check out their heartwarming reunion video from The Dodo here:

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6 / DAY 7 / [DAY 8] / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / DAY 17 / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
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