#460 The Childhood Super Jump

Neil Pasricha

Close your eyes and let your brain slip back …

You’re a tiny tot holding big hands walking down a sandy beach. As the sun sets over the glittery water the salty ocean breeze hits your hair and your feet squish into cool sand as somebody suddenly yells out “1-2-3 Wheeeeeeeeee!”

Your eyeballs pop, your chest lifts, your hands are squeezed tightly, and up you go…

AWESOME!

— Email message —

“I love 1000 Awesome Things but I must admit that I find it really tedious that every single entry is followed by an email message. I remember when I started reading the site and I could just read through the posts and enjoy each one more than the last. Now when I get to the bottom of each, I inadvertently start reading other people’s messages. After 2 or 3 testimonials, it gets a little boring. I love the site and am glad you are touching peoples lives. But can you possibly make it so that you don’t automatically see these messages? I am inclined to forget about the awesomeness if I have to keep reading these testimonials.” -Lindsay

Photos from: here, here, and here

143 thoughts to “#460 The Childhood Super Jump”

  1. omg does this bring back memories. did this at the ocean with my niece when she was two and she yelled out at the top of her lungs, “8, 9, 10!!!!!!!!!!” instead of 1,2,3 :)

  3. It always makes my grandkids laugh when they do the Super Jump and Grandpa and Nana aren’t ready for it. Now that they are getting older and heavier, their Super Jump isn’t as high but their enjoyment is no less.

  4. I love the emails at the end, I like others skim sometimes there first. It is getting to know others in the tribe of awesome!!

  6. Bah Humbug, Lindsay! Just don’t read the testimonials if they drive you crazy. If you are keeping a tally, Neil, I vote to keep them coming. I like to read everyone’s comments!

  8. i just adore the irony of Lindsay’s email being posted.

    …that is ironic, isn’t it?

  9. I love this site, but I agree with Lindsay. The testimonies are annoying…and even if you don’t read them its still annoying to have to scroll past them between stories. I think the site is good enough that you don’t need to shove other people’s testimonies in people’s faces.

  14. I totally agree! Get ridddd of the emails. It was cool when the book first came out but now it’s just annoying.

    1. Here’s another idea! Get ridddd of all the extra d’s in that word. It was cool when you did the first one (you know, to actually spell the word), but then it just got annoying.

      Jeebus, everyone.. I’m all for people providing constructive feedback (as many people above have done), but for a blog focused on the lifting people up, it sure seems like a lot of commenters seem to enjoy taking a big ol’ dump right on top of something that is clearly a labor of love.

      Stop and think for a minute how it must feel for Neil to log in, take a look at the comments from the blog he works so hard at, and see some snide anonymous commenter claiming that these additional pieces of awesome (just check out 7/19/10’s e-mail about pothole gardens!) are “annoying” or take away from the humility of the site.

      Has anyone paused for a minute and realized that this site (and all it’s “annoying” e-mails) has NO ads? How many other sites on the internet can you find that have the readership of this one, and not have a single commercial link on the entire site? If you want to talk about keeping this as a positive community with “humility”, I think it says a lot about a person who has avoided “commercializing” the site at every turn.

      I’m not advocating people not speaking up about how they feel that the site can be improved (including eliminating the e-mails), but a little civility could go a long way.

      /end rant.

      1. Maybe she was going for something like this:

        http://youmakemetouchyourhandsforstupidreasons.ytmnd.com/

        “Get rid-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh…!”

        Great rant, Freddo; I agree. I can’t believe it’s worth anyone’s time to ream someone out over something so trivial and irrelevant to their own lives. Like you, I completely support the option to express one’s opinion, but that can be done without putting anyone down or being hateful (which a majority of the “opposed to emails” comments have been).

        Great point about the ads, too.

        We love you Neil, and your ad-free, all-around-AWESOME blog!

  16. I like the emails. It’s a glimpse at how good the book and this site makes others feel. :)

  17. You know what? I like the E-mails! I think some of them are really inspiring. I like to hear how some people are able to make it through their day with a little simple encouragement.

  18. Kind of a dick move to put Lindsay’s email as a testimonial; it seems like it was done intentionally to make her feel bad. I agree that testimonials can clutter the site a bit, and I prefer the neatness of the Awesome post alone. It does also sometimes feel like an advertisement for the book. In any case, it’s no make-or-break issue for what is still an awesome blog!

    @Mike Dover: Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour.

    1. Thanks for the feedback, Pat.

      I would, however, suggest that limericks are lower than sarcasm.

  19. I think it is awesome that everyone has a different opinion !!!!

    I personally LOVE the testimonials at the bottom – I think they are AWESOME, in fact, so awesome that sometimes I skip straight to the bottom of the post and read the testimonial before I read the fine print of the post.

    There you go, if everyone thought the same we would all be boring and not awesome at all.

  20. It was part of my childhood memory. I remember the happiness when I was doing the jump between my parents till today. Of course I can not ask the game from my parents now, but I will do it with my child some day ^^

  22. How ironic of that person’s email to be added to the bottom. XD your humor is top-notch!

  23. This one has to make it into book2. Not only because being the super-jumper was awesome, but now as an adult, being the super-jumpee – passing on the joy of the super jump by grabbing the child’s hand and exchanging a knowing smile with your co-conspirator. My god kids LOVE it!

  24. I love reading the testimonials at the bottom of the emails, it really adds that final touch to a wonderful message.

    As for the “unlikers”, it’s like TV if you don’t like it don’t look! Quite complaining and start thinking positively! You will live a lot longer and be much happier.

    Keep up the good work Neil.

  27. I never got the super jump growing up…I mostly got the super closed-fist-to-mouth. Super jump looks fun tho.

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  32. I understand Lindsay is allowed to have her own opinion, but I enjoy reading the email’s from other readers. It reminds me when you sign on to post secret and can see on the bottom of the page how many other people are reading with you. I love the fact that others are being touched by this book and it is intriguing to see how others use the book. For example couples who write their own comments in the books, or the teacher who wished it was in brail, or the people who were so touched by the book they began to sketch down their own Awesome things. I agree with others who commented above, if you don’t like the email messages skip over them, but for me they are that little encore of awesome to each entry.

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  36. I actually don’t agree with lindsey. I actually enjoy reading the email messages. Especially the ones that the awesome book helped them thorough things.

  37. Lindsay, no one is making you skim an email at the bottom of a page, if you just use the website, you don’t need to read them because they are none existent, but, your cat Is really cute, and you so didn’t prove your own point by emailing him, as he obviously would put it on the page as he always does, but this time, it was to humiliate you humiliate you, btw

    Sucker!!

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