Do you get loads of emails from friends with attachments designed to make you feel good? You know the ones. PowerPoint presentations with calming music, and either photos or paintings. And usually at the end there is a message telling you that if you don’t forward the message immediately to at least ten people, your wish won’t come true. Sometimes they even threaten that something bad will happen to you.

Much as receiving these emails annoys me, I admit that it is nice to know that people care about whether I have a smile on my face or not. But, surely there are much easier, and even much more personal, ways to bring about that smile.

My latest purchase is an iPhone. Yes, I am addicted to the gorgeous gadget, and am longing for the 2nd or 3rd iteration of the iPad and my next bonus cheque.

One of the “funnest” things about the iPhone is, of course, the apps. Now I’m going to admit to something very personal here. I am the proud owner of a virtual fish named George. And George, or rather that app that runs George, knows just how to put a smile on my face. Every now and then, after I’ve visited George and played with him, I get messages. “You are the owner of one happy fish.” “Your fish has a smile on its face.” And, regardless of how bad I’m feeling, these simple messages, from an electronic gadget, make me smile.

Again I ponder, if it’s this easy for a gadget to make me smile, how much easier for a real person to do the same, and for me to do the same back.

So my resolution for today is to spend more time making people smile (but I warn you, I’m not giving up George!)