Pet Please #63: 1000 Awesome Things

For the past 4 years, I’ve been following a blog called 1000 Awesome Things. The author of the blog publishes once every weekday, just like me, and he even posts around the same time, so often I see my blog right next to his in Google Reader.

1000 Awesome Things is essentially my Pet Please series on steroids, but without the negative side effects. I’ve come up with 63 pet pleases so far, and this guy came up with one thousand. Amazing. They range from the whimsical to the emotional, but almost all of them have made me smile.

I’m not alone–he’s published three books from his blog, all of them bestsellers.

I must admit that I rarely read all the way through his posts–his subject lines are so clear that they suffice for me (note to fellow bloggers: subject lines are extremely important!). But the other day I was reading #5, not even really thinking that it was post #5 (he didn’t post the awesome things sequentially), and I noticed that he linked to this article in the Toronto Star: Neil Pasricha Posts the Final Entry on His Popular Blog 1000 Awesome Things.

It took me a second, but then it hit me: It was coming to an end. After four years, he was actually counting down to #1. Not that #1 really matters. What mattered was that a good thing–a great thing–is ending.

Fortunately, the blog will live on, as will the books. But I will immensely miss my daily dose of joy. In a world of complainers (myself included), this blogger managed to find one thousand great slices of life to share with the world. That’s such a gift.

If you read one thing today after this post, I hope you click here and read the #2 entry on 1000 Awesome Things. It is beautifully written, and it describes how lucky each and every one of us is to even exist. You’ve heard that message before, but I guarantee that you haven’t heard it the way that Pasricha describes it.

He just posted #1. It genuinely makes me sad and happy at the same time.

2 thoughts on “Pet Please #63: 1000 Awesome Things”

  1. What an incredibly worthy thing to promote. I, too, have followed Neil Pasricha’s blog for the past couple of years–not every day like Jamey–but about once or twice a week when I need a little break or a pick-me-up. It’s almost impossible to scroll through a few entries on 1000 Awesome Things without finding something that speaks to you and lifts your spirits. Neil offers great perspective on everything from minutiae we walk by every day and take for granted to things from our past (those of us born in the late 70s to mid 80s, usually) long since forgotten to grand observations about life. I second Jamey’s recommendation that you check out this blog today (and that you read the #2 entry).

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