#569 Sharing your stories with friends

Howdy, y’all.

As you may have noticed by the pictures up here, The Book of Awesome was recently made available for pre-order. I’m massively pumped about it and wanted to share my stories and my excitement with you this week.

Now, over the past year, many folks have mentioned how much reading about Awesome Things has meant to them. Of course, writing about them has meant an enormous amount to me, too. Part of the reason I wanted to write the book was because I know there are lots of folks who maybe aren’t online that much, don’t read blogs, or just haven’t found us, who might enjoy Awesome Things as much as we do. I hope the book helps spread the awesome and makes more people smile.

And, let’s be honest, this is really all because of you. This book wouldn’t be here without your support and anyone who ever receives a copy from a friend or family member owes you a boatload for tuning in, commenting, voting us for awards, and spreading the awesome around the intertubes.

With T-minus-2 months until the book publishes on April 15th, I thought now might be the right time to share some stories about what led up to this blog and book.

I’ll share stories about me for the rest of this week but start today by sharing some that have been sent in which the authors have kindly allowed me to publish. See, I don’t mention it much but there have definitely been many late nights where I thought I might not be able to do it anymore. There have been long days and bumpy moments where I thought maybe I’d run out of steam and would need to stop the awesome countdown.

But it’s stories like the ones below that pop up in my inbox and give me energy right when I need it most.

I hope you like them.

STORY #1

——–— Forwarded message ———-
From: Kathy
Subject: Your site
To: 1000 Awesome Things

Since my husband passed away in 2005 at the young age of 58 and leaving me a widow at the very young age of 50 and greiving simply and fervently for almost 6 months, I came to realize all the simple joys in the day. I now work at an activity center for developmentally disabled adults, our mission statement is ‘helping them become more independent and integrating them into the community’……..and a lot of the joy I have in a day happens there.
Today I came across your website and I have to say…….this is the absolute BEST website on the internet. You have created something that the worlds population should go to every single day of their lives and read at least one awesomething…..It puts the world into perepective and helps realize that life isn’t so bad…….and theres always something to find joy in…..always a little thing to pay attention to….something to make the day better and make tomorrow something within reach no matter how desolate our situation is.
Thank you for creating your site…..I have bookmarked it and put a shortcut on my desktop as a reminder to go there daily……keep up the good work…….you have made my day brighter!!!
Kathy

STORY #2

Depression is something I have to struggle with on a daily basis. Some days are worse than others, and this past weekend has been unusually rough for me… I found the site, while reading through the comments of another site… and I just want to say thank you.

Hi Neil,

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Yes, sharing stories with friends brings us all closer together. In these anonymous days of gated communities, big-box stores, and rampant Interneting, stories have a magnetic power to connect us and help us realize we’re never truly alone.Whether we’re talking about wordless apologies, intergenerational dancing, or tripping and realizing nobody saw you, it’s always inspiring to realize we’re all in this together, moving forward day by day, on the same big ship, on the same big ocean.

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Here’s to sharing your stories with friends.

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AWESOME!

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