It's all about gratitude

I started working on Thanks-o-meter.com in December of 2006 and it was officially launched in July of 2007. The site is quite simply a place to post a thank you and share a story when someones does something nice for you.

Anything from someone holding a door open for you to somebody saving your life - literally or figuratively. The magnitude doesn't matter so much as the recognition that they did something just for you.

As of this blog post, there are about 20 schools who have opened accounts on Thanks-o-meter.com to start gathering positive comments from their students, teachers, parents and others. I hope to expand into more schools, plus include religious organizations, sports leagues, and other volunteer-based organizations. Any organization, family or individual is welcome to open an account. The accounts are free.

My original purpose was to simply provide an alternative information source to what seemed like overwhelmingly negative news media coverage. Always a focus on the few bad apples. I wanted to give a voice to the positive news that was being generated from our schools. If the local media was going to focus on crime, I wanted to focus on the activities that warranted a "thank you", and to date I think I have accomplished that.

The stories posted to the site have been read over 10,000 times so far. That means for every story posted, each has been read an average of 74 times. So take a moment to reflect on your day, post a thank you and share a story. Also, forward your favorites to friends and family. You can forward any story, not just your own, so spend some time browsing www.thanks-o-meter.com to find some hope and inspiration. People do nice things every day. We're here to prove it!