CZ Design

What’s on your List of Awesome?

What’s on your List of Awesome?

Listofawesome

(click on the layout to see a larger version in a new window)

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation about that Louis CK appearance on Conan O'Brien when he gave his "Everything is amazing and nobody's happy" spiel.

Everytime I watch this clip I giggle, and then I try to be much more mindful of stuff that is awesome.

And everytime I get all hung up on things that I think I need to acquire that will somehow make my life that much better, I try to remember that aside from food, love and oxygen, there are so many simpler things in life that aren't big and loud that are really the most amazing things of all.

I made the page above to remind myself of stuff that's awesome that might not seem obvious at first glance, but if I just take a few minutes and really think of how amazing life today is, it's like one big giant, "Duh!"

I've designed a new template to help you capture your list, but you can also simply open a Word doc and just start typing. I think you'll find it's funny how quickly the list comes together when you stop, drop and consider how amazing even the simplest (and some of the most complex) things in life can be.

Here's a peek at mine:

1. Fresh, sweet and tart blueberries.
2. The Barenaked Ladies’ “Gordon” album.
3. Aidan, Cole and Dan.
4. All of the products made by Apple.
5. The fact that I can run 5 miles without stopping.
6. Ice cold water.
7. Refrigeration in general.
8. Pan fried tofu and red cabbage wraps.
9. Living in my own house.
10. Being healthy.
11. Seeing both of my kids on stage in their amazing production of “The Wiz.”
12. Aidan‘s grades.
13. Cordless phones and hands-free headsets.
14. Central air conditioning on the muggiest of Minnesota summer days.
15. Falling into a bed freshly made with clean sheets.
16. Putting your jeans on and realizing that, “Hey! These aren’t as tight as they used to be!”
17. Losing a pound when you weren’t expecting it.
18. When someone waves you ahead in traffic and smiles as they’re doing it.
19. Piping hot french fries of any variety.
20. Dancing to an 80s cover band.
21. Looking in the mirror and feeling pretty cute and realizing the pointlessness of beating yourself up over all the things you think you should be but are not.
22. Giant flat screen HD televisions.
23. Heading out for a planned 3-mile run, but going 5 or 6 just because you we’re feeling so good.
24. Waking up to find that someone has already unloaded last night’s dishes from the dishwasher.
25. Trader Joe’s Garlic Hummus with Joesph’s Whole Wheat and Flax Seed pita bread. Yum.
26. My daily afternoon cup of piping hot Oregon Chai.
27. Owning a car that hardly every breaks down.
28. My Herman Miller Aeron office chair (because it’s beautiful and it saved my wrists.)
29. Having short hair that’s easy to work with.
30. The invention of glasses so people can see.
31. Spring after a particularly long, snowy, cold and occasionally brutal winter.
32. Books.
33. The feeling you get when the house is clean, the laundry is folded and put away, and you have zero chores left on your to-do list.
34. Blue raspberry ICEEs from SA. Even though they are  so far removed form any naturally occurring flavor.
35. When your knees don’t hurt.
36. Music of pretty much every kind.
37. Our remodel.
38. When people greet you with a kiss on the cheek.
39. Really comfortable shoes.
40.The morning’s first cup of coffee.
41. Naps.
42. 62-degree days.
43. Video chatting with people who live halfway across the country.
44. Making a living doing something that you genuinely love.
45. Realizing that even though you’re getting older, you can always learn, grown and change.
46. Being an ex-smoker.
47. The fact that you can get into a pool and swim back and forth without stopping for 45 minutes.
48. Gaining that extra hour each Fall when the clocks get set back.
49. Documentation of life.
50. Just being alive period.

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LAYOUT SUPPLIES: StoryGuide No. 04A (Cathy Zielske) • Just Linens No. 1 (Michelle Martin) • Classic Cardstock Hoops Paper Pack (Katie Pertiet)]

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What would you put on your List of Awesome?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Samantha says

    “33. The feeling you get when the house is clean, the laundry is folded and put away, and you have zero chores left on your to-do list.”

    Has this ever happened to anyone in the history of the universe?

    (Other than that: fabulous idea, lovely list and while I can’t say the same things about running or swimming for me, I’m all over those blueberries….)

    Reply

  4. FrancineC says

    Thanks for posting that clip as I hadn’t seen it! We love Conan but don’t get it over here, sob. It’s so true what he said, we live in amazing times and we should be happier! lol Plus it gave me a great idea for another page too, to compare what my life was like as a child with what Kieran’s is like now 🙂

    Reply

  7. dawn says

    You always have the best ideas, so that will be the first thing on my AWESOME LIST!! Thank you so much, love your list and can relate to many of them.

    Reply

  8. Kendra B says

    LOVE your list and LOVE the clip!!!!!!!! GREAT stuff to think about and remember! Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply

  9. Dar says

    Boy, did I ever need to see this on a morning when my scale showed less than an awesome number. Now I can count blessings as I walk, instead of obsessing over that scale. Blessings trump numbers, any day! Thanks, Cathy.

    Reply

  10. Barb says

    Love your list, CZ! Saw the template on sale at DD on the weekend and have been waiting to see what you put on your list. 🙂
    On my list: being able to run 5k as my maintenance distance, having the opportunity to learn to play tennis as an adult and discovering that I’m not half-bad at it, having a decent job that is interesting and allows us to enjoy the extras in life, my kids, my awesome husband, coffee… there’s just so much awesomeness in my life. Thanks for the reminder. And the template! 🙂

    Reply

  14. Sue in Grapevine says

    I love that when you add yourself to this list:
    3. Aidan, Cole and Dan.
    of your family memebers, you get AC/DC!

    Reply

  16. Cathy Rodgers says

    This is an AWESOME post. I love how these are things that are awesome, no matter what else is going on in your life. Good or bad, these “awsomes” are constant. We all need a list like this to refer to on a regular basis.

    I know for a fact (having lived through rough times), that when life is really, really hard – it’s difficult to come up with a list of good things/awesome things. Lists like this remind us of the goodness in our lives. Goodness that’s still there – even while we’re laying on the sofa for weeks, sick as a dog from chemotherapy. (That’s just one rough spot that I’ve been through in the past.)

    Reply

  18. Lee Currie says

    Wonderful list, CZ! Off to put mine together, after I add this new template to my collection, of course. Gordon was a classic album, my favourite BNL. My mind is spinning with ideas – you have to stop doing that to me 🙂 Or maybe I should just read your posts when I have time for inspiration!

    Reply

  19. cathy says

    Ive been listening to Gordon nonstop in the car for the past few weeks. Got Aidan hooked on it too. Now THAT makes me happy, because we are a divided household on BNL. (Dan, not a fan.)

    Reply

  21. Susie says

    My fried gifted me with a book last year titled “The Book of Awesome”- it totally takes the small things and makes you think and appreciate them. Good for a little chuckle here and there, too- for example, “Nailing the first parallel parking attempt on the first try” or “Waking up and realizing it’s Saturday.” Both- AWEsome! Anyway, your list made me think of that book, it’s a gem. So are you.

    Reply

  23. jessica o'brien | jessohbee says

    love #50. so funny how things vary – your “62 degree” day is my un-awesome. mine would say “87 degree day”.

    others: the ability to check out books (and CDs and DVDs) for free at the library. the satisfaction of pushing down on a french press. living somewhere that people pay money to vacation at, and knowing how lucky i am for that. ditto your #36 and #43.

    Reply

  24. Luv2talk says

    #51. This BLOG 🙂

    Thanks for the reminder to count our blessings and the inspiration to document them.

    ROCK ON.

    Reply

  26. Dina says

    That’s a great idea, Cathy. I’d put on my list: Reading Cathy’s blog!

    Hey, here’s a semi-related question I’ve been meaning to ask you: Are you ever going to teach another BPS class?

    I took DYL and Me:TAV with you and really enjoyed them. Just wanted some more awesomeness, I guess!

    Reply

  28. Kristen says

    I think #5 (running 5 miles w/o stopping) is utterly amazing and a little bit mind-boggling. I’ve been running for several months now but still I can only do short stints in between much longer stints of walking. You are so awesome and thanks for the reminder of all the other things that are too. 🙂

    Reply

  29. cathy says

    Hey Dina, thanks! I hope to. Right now, my brain isnt wrapping around any ideas that I think would be good. So, blog readers here will be the first to know when and if I come up with any. : )

    Reply

  30. Louise says

    You continue to inspire me. My semi-project 365 (I’m allowing myself to miss days, use photos other people have taken and add in things like airplane tickets) this year is an album of gratitude. Every single day I have to acknowledge one thing for which I am truly, madly, deeply grateful. (And guess what? My biggest problem is choosing just one thing per day – I have SO much to be thankful for.)

    Thank you.

    p.s. my favourite recent layout is one I totally scraplifted from you – things I wish I could have told her then – Thank you for that one too.

    Reply

  33. Pilbara Pink says

    Pretty much every Saturday afternoon! Of course it is important to construct your to-do list carefully 😉

    Reply

  35. Debbie in AZ says

    Yet again, you’ve inspired me with your great layout ideas! Love this layout! Here in Phoenix, a 62 degree day is fabulous but for the opposite reason as you — here it’s “cold” (to we wimps in the desert) and we relish it because we know the 115 degree summer days will be here in a few short months again. Thanks again for your awesome inspiration.

    Reply

  39. Nancy McM says

    I hade never heard of nor seen that clip, he’s good 🙂 On a somewhat related note, have you read Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project? Very thought-provoking.

    Reply

  40. Susan F. says

    Love Louis CK – I had not seen that clip. Hilarious! I’m old enough to relate to everything in it…rotary phones…too true!

    Reply

  45. quinna says

    Cathy: I have been out and out struggling the last few days. I’m trying to make some health decisions. Your post made me laugh and it made me cry. It is what I needed. I wish I could give you a hug! Q

    Reply

  46. cathy says

    Well consider it a hug from me! Ive had a weird last 3 or 4 days as well. Very much a funk of sorts, so I hear you loud and clear.

    Reply

  50. Heidi says

    I hadn’t seen this Louis CK (I don’t watch Conan) clip, and I love it and laughed out loud. I’m sending it to my in laws right quick. They’ll totally appreciate it too. Thanks, Cathy.

    Reply

  51. Stacia says

    Your #15 has always been on top of my list if I ever won the lottery: someone putting clean sheets on my bed every single day! I *LOVE* that feeling. Sadly, I hate changing sheets. 😛 Life is full of dichotomies like that, isn’t it? (And no, I totally don’t know how to spell “dichotomies” the first time – are you kidding? Thank goodness for Word & spellcheck. :D).

    I love this idea and am hoping it will get me out of MY funk too. Maybe it’s that incredibly intense moon we had over the weekend…?

    Reply

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