Tag: awesome nuggets

Awesome Nuggets: Summertime Edition

By Angela Noel

June 27, 2018

I sometimes forget, particularly when life gets over-busy with obligations and activity, to revel in little moments of joy. Bringing them to mind helps dig happy pathways in my mind, reinforcing the good like steel girders in the skyscraper of life. Sharing these nuggets of awesomeness are my way of reminding myself to keep delight alive.

You can read former Awesome Nuggets posts collected for you on the new page devoted to these posts. Please feel free to visit it anytime and add your nuggets whenever the spirit moves you.

Here’s the Summertime Edition:

Continue reading “Awesome Nuggets: Summertime Edition”

Awesome Nuggets: It’s Been a Minute Edition

by Angela Noel

March 13, 2018

I won’t blame you if you’ve forgotten what an Awesome Nugget is. Or, if you are one of the new subscribers to the You are Awesome blog (Hi!) you may have never heard the term before. Either way, I owe you an explanation.

Awesome Nuggets make the day better. Big or small, these things surprise and delight me. I’ve talked about moths before, or about my wonderful former co-workers who honored me with all kinds of tongue-in-cheek insults. By opening my eyes to the wonder of the moment, these little bits of awesome make me feel good. Sharing them makes me feel better. Knowing they might inspire others to see the wonder around us. . . well, that’s the best of all.

We all need some good. And it’s been a minute. (I just love that phrase.)

Without further ado:

Continue reading “Awesome Nuggets: It’s Been a Minute Edition”

Awesome Nuggets: Thanksgiving Edition

by Angela Noel

November 23, 2017

It’s Thanksgiving!

Weird thing about gratitude: In the act of calling to mind all the good things we have in our lives, we’re actually receiving a powerful benefit. As Alex Korb Ph.D discusses in The Grateful Brain, studies have shown that calling to mind what we’re grateful for has a direct effect on depression and an indirect effect on anxiety. As we express gratitude our brains increase dopamine production, making us both feel good, and increase our activity levels–a kind of “more of that, please” response. So offering thanks for the gifts we’ve been given is also a gift to ourselves. Continue reading “Awesome Nuggets: Thanksgiving Edition”

A Weekly Way to Share the Good

by Angela Noel

February 23, 2017

“Don’t go looking for trouble;” Sookie Stackhouse, heroine of The Southern Vampire Series often says, quoting her wise grandmother (who in turn was paraphrasing Proverbs 11:27), “it’s already looking for you.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, author and philosopher, offers a different but related perspective, “Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness.” Even if you aren’t a fan of either Sookie or Dostoyevsky, it’s difficult to deny there’s truth here: Trouble is looking for us whether we like it or not, and we tend to focus on it, even when we’re trying not to.

But, trouble is neither all bad, nor all encompassing. At least, it doesn’t have to be. We can follow a different path. One highlighted by poet Mary Oliver in her poem Sometimes:

“Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.

Be Astonished.

Tell about it.”

I think Mary’s on to something, so I’m creating a way to share the good. I’m calling it “Awesome Nuggets: A Weekly Way to Share the Good” and I hope you’ll join me. Continue reading “A Weekly Way to Share the Good”