A Thousand Awesome Things

There's this guy who decided to focus on a bright twinkle in a dark sky. Everyday. For a thousand weekdays.

I stumbled upon an online write-up in The Huffington Post on Neil Pasricha's book The Book of Awesome. He had started it as a website 1000 Awesome Things back in 2008. In each post, he writes about "one simple, universal little joy" like "snow days, bakery air, or cashiers opening up new lanes at the grocery store, the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk, and waking up and realizing it's Saturday."

Most of the posts are bang-on and just about everybody, from every part of the world, could relate to them. He also peppers the post with personal vignettes and that makes them all the more endearing. They are well-written and that's probably the reason why the book works.

"Awesome!" is not usually my chosen exclaimation of sheer delight, but were I to use it, what would be my top 10 instances? Its actually tough to shortlist ten, leave alone identify the top ten. So, the below ten are in no order of priority, neither are they the only ten.

#) Getting home from work just in time before the evening rain pours down and then settling down by the window with a hot cup of tea.

#) Finding money in an inner pocket of an old handbag.

#) The warm, snug feel of a baby's little fist curling instinctively around your finger when you nudge them.

#) The smell of a new book just bought from the bookshop.

#) The high of a chocolate pastry after an emotionally stressful event.

#) Winning a full-house in a game of Housie Housie at the local club's Diwali gala.

#) Waking up just before dawn and realizing you still have a couple of hours of (guilt-free) sleep available to you.

#) That rare, once-in-a-blue-moon, bewildering bliss sometime mid-afternoon on a Monday when you realize you have absolutely no work that needs to be done. You are free for the day. And even if you have nowhere to go and none of your friends have the time, you feel AWESOME!

#) The slight weight of your young child's body as he/she lies soundly asleep in your arms.

#) Listening to the tinkling of a windchime.

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!