Everything is awesome

When we’re living our dream

Everything is Awesome, LEGO movie

The Lists

So another new year rolls round and there are tons of lists out there.  Some round up the past year by listing the ‘best of’ or people who died.

Others look forward to the new year by listing top ten resolutions, getting fit tips, self improvement ideas, etc.

A Different Tack

This year, rather than create more lists for me to forget about or look back and lament what didn’t happen, I’ve decided to do something that I will achieve.

I’m going to start an awesome jar.

A Jar of Awesome

I saw this picture and thought, “What a great idea”.

Often when the end of a year rolls round, we can only recall all the crappy things that happened.  For some reason, the negative stuff seems to stick with us.  All the good things seem to fade from memory.

Or perhaps only the big things stay in our minds and we forget all the smaller, good stuff.

The Small Stuff

But it’s the smaller, positive things that make getting up every morning worthwhile.  The smaller stuff keeps us going when we feel that negative storm start swirling around us.

When my parents were having a lot of health issues and I was in the middle of a divorce, any small kindness that came my way made it possible for me to carry on.

Resolutions?

I still have my usual resolutions list:

• Get fit
• Get healthy
• Got out more
• Find the love of my life

But this year, my resolutions are going to be more like long term goals,  goals that will carry over more than just one year.  Kinda takes the pressure off of having to make it all happen in 365 days.  Instead of the all or nothing way, I’m going to set smaller, hopefully more achievable goals.  That way when I arrive at the end of the year, I can mark positive progress.

First Awesome Entry

So here’s the first entry into my awesome ‘jar’, (which is actually a box).

The damp coast rarely gets snow, let alone has it stick around for more than a week.  This winter, the snow came in early December and stuck around.

When it snows, this the typical damp coast pattern:  Temperature falls, snow falls, temperature warms up, snow melts, temperature falls, snow turns to ice.  Repeat.

And most people don’t shovel their walks so both roads and sidewalks turn into ice rinks.

So one dark, frozen morning, I was skating my way across the street heading toward my bus stop.  Unfortunately the bus arrived at the stop while I was still half a block away.  I swore and kinda shook my fists at my side.  Lo and behold, the bus driver stopped in the road next to me and opened the door.  “Come on, come on!” he shouted.  So I skated over to the door and made my bus.

So here’s to you, the brilliant bus driver who gave my my first awesome jar entry of 2017:

Positive Start

Come the end of 2017, rather than be depressed about all the things that didn’t happen, I’ll have a box full of wonderful.  December 31, 2017, champagne in hand, hopefully I’ll have tons of awesome things to go through so I start 2018 on a high note.