West High Bros:

I often avoid turning on the news first thing in the morning.  It is rarely uplifting and more often depressing.

This morning, however, I saw a segment that makes me smile and feel so good that I want to share it with anyone who will listen.

A young man, about 16, who lives in Ohio, has started a twitter where he sends compliments to fellow students and teachers.  He calls himself Westhighbros, named after the school he attends. 

He might type, "You looked good today in that red sweater”, or “Your quirky personality makes people happy”, or “You have a great singing voice”.   He makes his remarks personal and tells people they shouldn’t let others dictate their own happiness.

The recipients of these tweets said they instantly felt good about themselves.  They went on to say it encouraged them to say nice things about others in their circle.  A kind of pay-it-forward gesture.

The young man in the interview said this was his answer to ‘cyber bullying’.  He never told his parents.  He didn’t brag about what he was doing.  He just decided one day to do something nice and he did.

It reminds me of a saying that I like.  “Great things can happen, if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

Smiling at others, letting a car turn in front of you, allowing someone to go through the market check-out before you with a couple of items, giving a compliment to a total stranger.  Why aren’t we doing this more often?

Did you know it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown?