For the past two weeks on our Recognition Road Trip across Route 66, we have been challenging strangers to tell their OGO just how awesome they are, either in person or over the phone.

But how do these acts of recognition make the people on the receiving end feel?

We were curious; so we began to pose the question, what is the best compliment you have ever received and how did it make you feel?

The first person we met in Venice Beach was Lucas, who honestly might be the world’s tallest inline skater. He was the perfect person to start our day talking to because his positive energy and open-mindedness were contagious! When asked to share the most meaningful compliment he has ever received, he said, “When my mom told me that my personality helps other people to shine. My name means ‘bringing light,’ and she says that I make the people around me feel good about themselves.” When asked how it made him feel to hear that he said, “It means a lot! Who doesn’t like a compliment every now and then? You’re ecstatic. You’re stoked!”

Even a simple “I love you” can be the greatest compliment in the world. We talked to a Swedish man named Lars who told us simply that when his children tell him that they love him, “it feels like I have accomplished something.”

Similarly, Linda, a teacher from New York, choked up as she said that the most meaningful thing someone has ever told her is when her dad said, “you made all of my dreams come true.”

Michael, in Flagstaff, Arizona, reiterated how meaningful it is to receive a compliment from a parent. He said that, “growing up, my mom always told me that I was going to be successful and pushed me to be better. That positive enforcement in my life made me want to impress her and want to make her happy. She’s my mom and I love her.” He said that his mom has been a huge influence in how he lives his life and treats other people and he constantly tries to spread positivity to those he meets.

The kind words of a stranger can have an equally positive effect. Melina recalled a moment when a stranger approached her in Times Square to tell her that she looked like the sun. “I lit up! You can’t receive a better compliment than that, and it came out of nowhere!”

For our final interview, we talked to an awesome couple, R.J. and Ashley. The nicest compliment Ashley has ever received was “that I constantly have a smile on my face and it makes the world a better place, because it makes other people smile and be happy.” It meant a lot to hear that because just by doing something as simple as smiling, she knows that she can make a difference in the world. R.J. sweetly told us that the most meaningful compliment anyone has given him is when Ashley agreed to marry him. “It makes me feel like a good person. A quality person.”

It was a very unique experience to learn about the people we met through the words of their loved ones. Not only did it help me to appreciate them on a deeper level, but also it helped me to realize the importance of kind words and compliments.

So many emotions were brought to the surface as people recounted the kind words of fathers, mothers, friends, bosses, and strangers. Some people radiated joy recalling such positive memories. Others cried when they remembered the love of someone they had lost.

But the common theme was that these compliments changed the recipients for the better. Sometimes it made their day, and sometimes the effect was so impactful that it changed the course of their lives. Most believed that receiving a compliment made them want to go out of their way to be a better person and pass that positivity onto someone else.

In the words of Brock, a young man we met on the Santa Monica Pier, “Going out of your way to be kind can really change someone’s perspective on life and makes them think differently and possibly spread more positivity and maybe they will go compliment someone else. I feel like Phones have a lot to do with it. A lot of people think it’s okay just to compliment just on social media, but an eye to eye compliment means a lot more.”

So this week, I challenge anyone reading this to recognize a friend. Recognize a parent. Recognize a stranger.

But look them in the eye and mean it when you do it. It will make a difference.

- Carly Sullivan