👋 Welcome to Smileworthy, where we round up all the good things happening out there that are not receiving the attention they deserve!

This week, two girl scout troops said no to a 6-year-old with disabilities. Undeterred she went on to sell 100,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies – the most in history. Plus: a grandson who piloted his grandma's first flight at 88, a hero dog caught on bodycam leading police to a missing toddler, and the Buddhist monks completed their 15-week peace walk to Washington D.C.

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Feel good stories from Happilynews.com guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Six-year-old Pim Neill has sold more than 100,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in a single season – shattering the previous national record of around 44,000, selling to all 50 states, and becoming the most prolific cookie seller in Girl Scout history. And yet, she’s still only a kindergartner. And it's her first year.

But rewind to before any of that, and this story almost never happened.

Pim fell in love with Girl Scouts at age 3, watching older girls sell cookies and deciding on the spot that she wanted in. When her dad, Luke Anorak-Neill, approached the first troop about joining, they turned her away because of her disabilities.

"They said, 'We don't want that in our troop,'" Anorak-Neill recalled. "'Go find a playgroup for disabled kids.'"

A second troop rejected her for being too young. But Anorak-Neill wasn't giving up on his daughter's dream. "I decided [they] must not speak for all Girl Scouts as a whole," he said. He kept searching until he found a brand-new kindergarten-only Daisy troop in the Baldwin-Whitehall area – 11 girls, a fresh start, and leaders who welcomed Pim without hesitation.

When cookie season kicked off on January 6, Pim and her dad got to work the old-fashioned way – knocking on doors, handing out flyers, making phone calls, showing up at church and local businesses. By that first Friday, they'd already moved 819 boxes. Impressive by any standard, but Pim had set her sights on 10,000.

Her service unit manager gently suggested 819 was "probably about her cap."

But Pim had other plans.

Her dad started posting short videos on TikTok with a link to Pim's personal cookie storefront. Each one opened the same way – Pim looking into the camera with her curly hair and glasses: "Hi, my name is Pim. Do you want to buy some Girl Scout cookies?"

The internet said yes. Loudly. One video hit nearly 5 million views. Orders flooded in from every corner of the country, and what started as a neighborhood hustle turned into a nationwide phenomenon. She blew past 5,000 boxes, then 10,000, then just kept climbing.

None of this surprised her dad. Pim was a Top 10 reader at her library by age 4. She read 506 books during a single summer reading program. She contributed 10% of her school's popcorn sales and collected donations for a toy drive through her church – all before turning six.

"She has always been a record breaker," Anorak-Neill said.

The ripple effect on her troop has been enormous. Early in the season, leaders hoped cookie money might cover a few camping trips. Now? A trip to Niagara Falls – one of the top prizes for sellers in Western Pennsylvania, and a destination special to Pim's parents – is a lock. The troop leader is renting a U-Haul just to pick up all the cookies. At a recent meeting, leaders told the girls they didn't have to sell another single box if they didn't want to.

"But everybody wants to still do cookie booths and fundraise," Anorak-Neill said. "This is fun for everybody. It's a win for Girl Scouts."

With online sales running through March 22, Pim now has the all-time lifetime record of 180,000 boxes in her crosshairs – a number other scouts built over entire careers. She's chasing it down in one season, with about a month to go.

And her reason for keeping at it? The most six-year-old answer imaginable.

"It makes people happy," she said.

Pim’sdigital storefront is still very much open. Check it out here and maybe buy a box or two.

It’s not all doom and gloom out there. Here’s some positive news items from publications around the world.

📍Wisconsin, USA
✈️ Grandson pilots 88-year-old grandmother's first ever flight
When Alex Shupe finally qualified, he put his grandmother in the first class seat and flew her from Wisconsin to Chicago himself. Her verdict after a lifetime of waiting? "I felt like a spoiled celebrity." We love this for her. (Read more 👉 ABC7 Chicago)

📍Illinois, USA
👕 Deaf concert-goers at the Lyric Opera of Chicago can now feel the music through their skin
The SoundShirt – a jacket fitted with 16 haptic sensors – translates live orchestral sound into vibrations across the wearer's body. Violin strings on your arms. A drumbeat on your back. As one audience member put it in sign language: "What you can hear, I can feel." (Read more 👉 Good Good Good)

📍Worldwide
🦏 AI just became one of wildlife's most powerful defenders
Finally some positive AI news. Between 2018 and 2023, tech companies using AI tools blocked or removed more than 23 million online listings tied to protected species. New portable DNA kits can now identify animals in 20 minutes flat. Handheld scanners can tell an illegal hardwood from a legal one on the spot. So, while the poachers are getting smarter the tech chasing them is outpacing them. (Read more 👉 Good Good Good)

📍Kentucky, USA
🐕 Louisville police couldn't find the missing 3-year-old – then a mystery dog showed up and took over and saved the day
The stray appeared out of nowhere, barked at officer Josh Thompson, and led him straight to the backyard, where the toddler was found safe inside a parked car. "I don't know where the dog came from," Thompson said, "but it was a blessing from God." Still no idea who the dog belongs to. Truly just a hero passing through. (Read more 👉 CBS News)

📍Washington D.C., USA
🧘 19 Buddhist monks just walked 2,300 miles from Texas to D.C. – and 3,500 people showed up in silence to greet them
The 108-day journey began in Fort Worth last October, with the monks walking to promote peace, mindfulness and nonviolence – accompanied throughout by Aloka, a rescue dog who became a celebrity in his own right. The trek wasn't without hardship: one monk lost part of his leg in a roadside accident near Houston, but rejoined the group in a wheelchair as they approached the capital. When they finally arrived at American University, the packed arena didn't cheer – the crowd simply stood in silence as the monks walked in, which somehow said everything. (Read more 👉 NPR)

📍California, USA
🚗 Good news for everyone who breathes air: EVs are already cleaning it up
A new study in Lancet Planetary Health tracked nearly 1,700 ZIP codes across California and found that for every 200 additional electric vehicles, nitrogen dioxide levels dropped by 1.1%. The study used satellite data rather than models – meaning this is real-world proof, not projections. (Read more 👉 Fast Company)

📍New York, USA
🐘 Indonesia has banned elephant rides nationwide
The Ministry of Forestry announced the nationwide ban, with permits revoked for any venue that fails to comply. Animal welfare groups called it a "historic step" for Southeast Asia. The last major holdout – Bali's Mason Elephant Park – halted rides at the end of January and is now moving to observation-only experiences instead. (Read more 👉 Plant Based News)

A unique, sometimes quirky, but always eye-catching photo feature each week.

WWith the Winter Olympics in full swing, we're already drowning in jaw-dropping athletic moments. But these images – the winners of the 2026 World Sports Photography Awards – remind us that sport produces visual magic all year round.

The overall winner? Edgar Su's stunning shot of Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Australian Open, where the tennis star's shadow appears to strike the ball in perfect sync with his body above. It's the kind of image that makes you stare a little longer than you planned to.

Then there's Steph Chambers' baseball winner (see top) – a player mid-bubble-blow, the gum splitting into a perfect V-shape across his face. It's ridiculous, it's beautiful, and it's exactly the kind of blink-and-you-miss-it moment that separates a good photographer from a great one.

And because we couldn't resist a Winter Olympics tie-in – Germain Favre-Felix's winter sports winner is pure adrenaline on a slope. A lone skier carving through powder with snow-capped peaks and a vast lake stretching out behind them. If this doesn't make you want to book a ski trip, nothing will.

This year's awards were the biggest yet – a record 23,130 images submitted by 4,120 photographers from 123 countries, with 24 category winners spanning more than 50 sports. From a sumo wrestler getting a palm to the face to a golfer emerging from a hedge (yes, really), the full collection is worth a scroll.

The best sports photography doesn't just capture what happened – it captures what it felt like. And these three do exactly that.

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Think showing your flaws makes you look weak? Science says the opposite. Researchers found that when we're vulnerable with others – admitting mistakes, asking for help, sharing struggles – it feels like weakness on the inside but looks like courage on the outside. They call it the "Beautiful Mess Effect."

We judge our own messy moments way more harshly than other people do. In fact, those moments of openness actually build trust, deepen relationships, and boost self-esteem. The catch? It starts with self-compassion. Try talking to yourself the way you'd talk to a friend who messed up – with kindness, not criticism. Your imperfections aren't something to hide. They're how people connect with you.

The inventor of the Pringles can is buried in one. Fredric Baur was so proud of his design that his family honoured his wish and buried part of his ashes in a Pringles tube in 2008.

1659: The first known check is written for £400 and is now on display in Westminster Abbey

1792: US postal service created. Postage is 6-12 cents depending on distance

1923: Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds the sarcophagu

1962: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth aboard Friendship 7

2017: Discovery of a new mostly underwater continent, Zealandia, in the South Pacific is announced in the research journal "GSA Today"

Below, 10 nine-letter words have been broken into chunks of three letters.

The chunks have been moved around, no chunk is used twice, and all of the chunks are used.

Can you determine what the 10 words are?

Answer at bottom of newsletter

Kyle Hale sold his first love in 2011. He had to. He and his wife Kalli were heading to dental school, money was tight, and the 1968 Ford Mustang he'd spent his teenage years building with his dad wasn't going to pay the bills. So he let it go.

He didn't expect to ever see it again. But on his 40th birthday, after tracking it down, his wife had a surprise waiting outside for him…

*Studies show that watching heartwarming videos can boost your mood. So sit back and start your weekend positively - doctors orders!

🧠 Brain Teaser Answer

Answers

acq + uit + tal = acquittal

con + duc + tor = conductor

dec + kch + air = deckchair

dif + fer + ent = different

imp + ort + ant = important

lig + htn + ing = lightning

myt + hol + ogy = mythology

new + sag + ent = newsagent

pol + ice + man = policeman

rec + tan + gle = rectangle