Previous Posted from January 16, 2011

Neil Pasricha is a guy from Canada.

His parents were immigrants from India. He had a good life as his parents raised him in an environment not like theirs-stark poverty.  But, one of the middle class in North America with birthday parties and McDonald hamburgers.

As he became an adult, he got an education.  Married.  Was living the life.

Then in 2008 and 2009, things turned bad for him.  His wife told him she didn’t love him anymore.  He lost a close friend to suicide.

As the heaviness crowded him out, he began to search for something that would dispel the clouds around him.  He decided to write a blog called 1000 Awesome Things.

The blog focused on all the little things that he enjoyed in life and took for granted.  Little pleasures that came his way every day.  He would write down one a day.

This new bent on optimism caught on.  Thousands began to read his blog.  He turned it into a book.  Now he is out making speeches reminding people that things aren’t always going to go the way they want them and encouraging them to keep living an awesome life.

He says that there are 3 A’s to Awesome.

The first is Attitude.  Pasricha believes that when bad things are happening you can either twirl in despair or you can decide to step ahead.  Sober, sure.  Realistic, sure.  But, forward nonetheless.

The second A is Awareness.  Pasricha points to three year olds as an illustration.  He says the neat things about three years old is that they are experiencing so many things for the first time.  His idea is that we commence in missing out on an awesome life when we become dull to the things around  us that are blessings.

The final A is Authentic.  Pasricha says that so many folks don’t pursue the things they are truly interested in doing.  He calls folks to quit doing what they don’t feel is their thing and to explore their authentic desires.

At the end of the speech I saw, he reminds us life is limited and rare.  He says we won’t be as young as we are right now.  He reminds us to be intentional about what attitude we adopt.  He reminds us to be intentional about being aware of the true blessings around us and he reminds us to be authentic about what we choose to do.  All those things, he says, leads to a rich life.

And, I think he may be on to something.