The everyday awesome

If you asked me last month, “What do you think is awesome?” I’d say mountains, the redwood forest, the ocean, the Milky Way — you know, stuff on a grand scale. But author and speaker Neil Pasricha has changed the way I view what’s awesome. It’s not necessarily found in the enormous things I mentioned. Finding the awesome in the day’s little details and events can turn you from gruff to grateful.

Neil’s newest book, “Our Book of Awesome,” is a follow-up to his 2010 work “The Book of Awesome.” The story of how he wrote the first one is pretty remarkable. He was in his late 20s, divorced and mourning the loss of his best friend who committed suicide. He lost 40 pounds from stress and wasn’t sleeping. He started therapy and a blog called “1,000 Awesome Things.” And for 1,000 consecutive weekdays, he shared a small joy from his life such as warm underwear from the dryer or when cashiers open a new checkout lane at the grocery store. The blog that only his mother read for much of that first year or so eventually gained a massive following and scored him a book deal. To borrow a phrase from Paul Harvey, listen to the rest of the story about what happened between Awesome book 1 and Awesome book 2 on NPR’s Here and Now, which aired Dec. 9, 2022.

Let’s change our perspective and embrace our gratitude for the small things in everyday life as we start 2023. I’m not much on New Year’s resolutions, but this one I can stand behind.

Happy New Year to each of you!

P.S. Please send an example of your awesome small joy to krodda@gie.net. I want to share in those everyday celebrations. And I’ll draw a name from those submissions and send the winner a copy of Neil’s book.