Neil Pasricha's Blog, page 226

#141 Inspiring commencement speeches

Thank you for showing us the power of passion.

And thank you for being

AWESOME!

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

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#142 Red Rover

It’s pretty simple.

A line of kids hold hands on one side of the playground while a kid from the other side runs at them with a head full of steam and tries to bust through.

The game’s not over until the field is littered with broken arms, bloody noses, and shattered glasses.

It’s one of the most dangerous playground games out there.

And one of the most fun.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

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#143 When you go through the yellow light and the guy behind you goes too

Baby, you can drive my car.

At least sometimes I feel that way when I’m caught in a yellow-light staredown and suddenly find myself death-gripping the wheel while make that split-second decision to fly through or slam the brakes.

It’s very stressful.

If you’re like me sometimes you’re in the middle of the intersection when you suddenly think: “Oh shoot… I shouldn’t have gone.”

When that happens it’s always satisfying to see the car behind you come through the intersection, too. I mean, you thought you were pushing it, but just look at that guy. Suddenly your move is totally justified and police officer’s job is a whole lot easier.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

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#143 When you decide to go through the yellow light and the guy behind you goes too

Baby, you can drive my car.

At least sometimes I feel that way when I’m caught in a yellow-light staredown and suddenly find myself death-gripping the wheel while make that split-second decision to fly through or slam the brakes.

It’s very stressful.

If you’re like me sometimes you’re in the middle of the intersection when you suddenly think: “Oh shoot… I shouldn’t have gone.”

When that happens it’s always satisfying to see the car behind you come through the intersection, too. I mean, you thought you were pushing it, but just look at that guy. Suddenly your move is totally justified and police officer’s job is a whole lot easier.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

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#144 Stranger-to-stranger high fives

My friend Chad doesn’t run.

Sure, he does a lot of things well, like teach, be a great friend, and write a blog, but the man doesn’t run, doesn’t enjoy running, and doesn’t think about running. Nope, he’s no bib-wearing, calf-stretching, fancy-shoe-buying runner, and you know what? He’s cool with that.

That’s why I was surprised when Chad told me recently that he and his wife Kristen were visiting her brother in Florida when they decided to go for a run. “Go for a run?,” I asked. “Go for a run,” he said, eyebrows popped up and nodding, like he hardly believed it himself. But he’s also a man who says yes a lot so he decided to throw caution into the wind and just go with the flow.

Chad told me it was his first time running outside with other people. He wasn’t sure how to pace himself so he suddenly raced to the front of their three-person pack. Sun was beaming down on him, wind was blowing in his face, and another runner was racing up to him coming the other way.

Since Chad wasn’t familiar with Running Protocol he let instinct take over and put his hand up for a high five as he approached the other runner. The other guy got a huge smile on his face and gave a loud, cracking high five back, before high fiving Chad’s wife and brother-in-law, too.

And it was a beautiful moment.

Because there’s something special about the stranger-to-stranger high five.

Whether it’s screaming fans outside the stadium after a big comeback win, a smiling stranger high-fiving a smiling baby on the subway, or a group of cyclists at the finish line of a long charity ride, it’s always great when emotions bubble up and insecurities fade away in favor of enjoying a cracking high five moment and living for the day.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here

The post #144 Stranger-to-stranger high fives appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

#144 Stranger-to-stranger high fives

My friend Chad doesn’t run.

Sure, he does a lot of things well, like teach, be a great friend, and write a blog, but the man doesn’t run, doesn’t enjoy running, and doesn’t think about running. Nope, he’s no bib-wearing, calf-stretching, fancy-shoe-buying runner, and you know what? He’s cool with that.

That’s why I was surprised when Chad told me recently that he and his wife Kristen were visiting her brother in Florida when they decided to go for a run. “Go for a run?,” I asked. “Go for a run,” he said, eyebrows popped up and nodding, like he hardly believed it himself. But he’s also a man who says yes a lot so he decided to throw caution into the wind and just go with the flow.

Chad told me it was his first time running outside with other people. He wasn’t sure how to pace himself so he suddenly raced to the front of their three-person pack. Sun was beaming down on him, wind was blowing in his face, and another runner was racing up to him coming the other way.

Since Chad wasn’t familiar with Running Protocol he let instinct take over and put his hand up for a high five as he approached the other runner. The other guy got a huge smile on his face and gave a loud, cracking high five back, before high fiving Chad’s wife and brother-in-law, too.

And it was a beautiful moment.

Because there’s something special about the stranger-to-stranger high five.

Whether it’s screaming fans outside the stadium after a big comeback win, a smiling stranger high-fiving a smiling baby on the subway, or a group of cyclists at the finish line of a long charity ride, it’s always great when emotions bubble up and insecurities fade away in favor of enjoying a cracking high five moment and living for the day.

AWESOME!

Awesome Is Everywhere has been out for one week and is already a bestseller!

 

 

Photos from: here, here, and here

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#145 Seeing baby photos of your girlfriend or boyfriend for the first time

[image error]Do you remember wearing a diaper?

Well, you did, you did, and you looked good in it, too. You crawled around hallways, yanked the dog’s tail, and screamed like a banshee in that diaper-padded butt. Chances are good someone took pictures of you doing it. Chances are good the camera kept clicking through your grass-stain-and-pimple-filled childhood, too.

The evidence exists.

Coming across those old photos of your boyfriend or girlfriend these days is great … for a few big reasons:

1. Coloring in the lines. When you’re falling head over heels for somebody, you just can’t get enough of them. If you’ve ever said “I wish I knew you before!” or “Where have you been all my life?”, then old photos are your best way into their past.*

[image error]2. Awkwardness Anonymous. At the start of the relationship everyone’s on their best behavior. New pants, muted farts, and deodorant double-swiping is the norm. Which is why sharing old photos builds so much trust. We get to see into your geeky past, when metal mouths, Coke-bottle glasses, and gap-toothed grins were the norm.

3. They’re just plain ol’ cute. Because you were a chubby-cheeked one-year-old with wide eyes and a button nose at some point. We won’t ask what happened.

When you see those old photos of your boyfriend or girlfriend it’s like your pasts and your futures start slowly twisting together. Stories pop out of birthday cake blowouts, histories bloom out of family reunions, and long lives lived seem to fill in before your eyes as you finger flip through dog-eared albums on the old basement couch.

AWESOME!

(*Until the Holodeck gets invented.)

[image error]Photo from: Mikira and here

The post #145 Seeing baby photos of your girlfriend or boyfriend for the first time appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

#145 Seeing baby photos of your boyfriend or girlfriend for the first time

[image error]Do you remember wearing a diaper?

Well, you did, you did, and you looked good in it, too. You crawled around hallways, yanked the dog’s tail, and screamed like a banshee in that diaper-padded butt. Chances are good someone took pictures of you doing it. Chances are good the camera kept clicking through your grass-stain-and-pimple-filled childhood, too.

The evidence exists.

Coming across those old photos of your boyfriend or girlfriend these days is great … for a few big reasons:

1. Coloring in the lines. When you’re falling head over heels for somebody, you just can’t get enough of them. If you’ve ever said “I wish I knew you before!” or “Where have you been all my life?”, then old photos are your best way into their past.*

[image error]2. Awkwardness Anonymous. At the start of the relationship everyone’s on their best behavior. New pants, muted farts, and deodorant double-swiping is the norm. Which is why sharing old photos builds so much trust. We get to see into your geeky past, when metal mouths, Coke-bottle glasses, and gap-toothed grins were the norm.

3. They’re just plain ol’ cute. Because you were a chubby-cheeked one-year-old with wide eyes and a button nose at some point. We won’t ask what happened.

When you see those old photos of your boyfriend or girlfriend it’s like your pasts and your futures start slowly twisting together. Stories pop out of birthday cake blowouts, histories bloom out of family reunions, and long lives lived seem to fill in before your eyes as you finger flip through dog-eared albums on the old basement couch.

AWESOME!

(*Until the Holodeck gets invented.)

[image error]Photo from: Mikira and here

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#146 When you ask the people in front of you if they’re in line and they’re not

I went to the airport yesterday.

Obviously, I got jacked on parking and my little pick up trip turned into a twelve-dollar fine for swerving around the maze-like lot for twenty minutes. On my way out I stopped at the Pay For Parking machines and, sure enough, all of them were packed with people.

I tapped my foot like Sonic The Hedgehog for a minute before noticing a woman spoon-feeding her baby in a stroller near one of the machines. I moseyed on up and softly said, “Sorry ma’am, are you… using this?” to which she replied “Oh, no, not yet, go ahead.”

Who feeds their baby in front of a parking machine?

Well maybe I’ll never know the answer to that.

But I’m so glad I asked asked.

Because it put me on the fast track.

AWESOME!

—

Hey everyone,

Thank you so much for supporting the launch of the first awesome book in four years!

I’m really excited to announce that right here, right now, we are launching the first ever fully interactive, hyper-photorealistic children’s book in the entire world.

Want to see it?! Check it out here.

And how did this book get made??

Well, all kid’s books up till now are illustrations or photos. But we partnered with a Discovery Channel animation studio to stitch together images from NASA, electron-microscope-wielding scientists, and beach and wildlife photographers from around the world. (My favorite was a guy from Cuba who took pictures of crabs for us.)

And that whole story brings us all to this, to here, to now. I’m excited to share this new book in the awesome series with all of you. Where the other books are the observation of awesome this is the first one that shares the experience of awesome.

Awesome Is Everywhere is available for order today on Indigo or Amazon.

I hope you like it,

Neil

Photos from: here

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#147 When those little stringy things come off with the banana peel

And that weird smushy brown thing on the bottom.

AWESOME!

—

Hey everyone,

Thank you so much for supporting the launch of the first awesome book in four years!

I’m really excited to announce that right here, right now, we are launching the first ever fully interactive, hyper-photorealistic children’s book in the entire world.

Want to see it?! Check it out here.

And how did this book get made??

Well, all kid’s books up till now are illustrations or photos. But we partnered with a Discovery Channel animation studio to stitch together images from NASA, electron-microscope-wielding scientists, and beach and wildlife photographers from around the world. (My favorite was a guy from Cuba who took pictures of crabs for us.)

And that whole story brings us all to this, to here, to now. I’m excited to share this new book in the awesome series with all of you. Where the other books are the observation of awesome this is the first one that shares the experience of awesome.

Awesome Is Everywhere is available for order today on Indigo or Amazon.

I hope you like it,

Neil

Photo from: here

The post #147 When those little stringy things come off with the banana peel appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.