Biggest smiles while watching this video by Everynone (in collaboration with WNYC | Radiolab).

Then the last scene happens – not smiling, but the rest is great. Thank you Everynone. Smiles.

Say what? ‘Ruin’, you know when something is ruined. It is a gift.

Sometimes things have to be ruined for something new (and most of the time the right thing) to begin. Often something has to force you to ‘move on’ or to try DO something new.

“Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.”

Elizabeth Gilbert said that. Does that make sense? If it does, say thank you.

Always be grateful and say thank you.
P.S. I did not read the book, but watched half of the movie.

Yesterday when I got home, my car’s hand brake snapped. I live half way up this mountain, and a hand brake is very important. If you do not have one, your car will not be in the same spot that you left it.

Who fixes cars on Fridays after 6pm? Nobody.

I usually park downhill facing a wall, but I stopped to move something that was in my way. That is when I heard a crack and a snap and the only word I could think of was OOOPS! (and then of course ‘now what?’). This gave me enough space to reverse uphill (without a hand brake).

That thing was obviously in my way for a reason. Phew.

It made me think of so many other things that I am thankful for.

Being me. Having the right to be myself and being able to express myself in a way that only I can. Without anyone telling me what to do and who to be. Try it, it is quite nice.

Legs. Even if you have cankles or funny knees. Growing up, I never liked my legs, always thought they looked odd. Learn to love them, they are so important and are pretty fancy, especially when you realize what they can do on a spinning bike.

Breakfast at street cafe’s. Even when you sit under a tree and the leaves end up all over the place. The live music adds extra special goodness, and the fresh rye toast too.

Good friends. The ones who will call you at 8am to check if you are okay (after the car episode). They will most likely call again on Monday, to hear if it is fixed. Love.

My PurpleBerry. That will be my pink/purple and black BlackBerry. It really does connect you to the rest of the world, for free. Never thought that I would love a phone, but I think do.

There are SO many things to be thankful for – big and small. I try to think of a few everyday and do you know what?

Good things happen when you say thank you.

What are you thankful for?

These platonic love stories aren’t about the girl you’ve known since high school and always had a secret crush on, or the guy at the video store your partner doesn’t notice you checking out. They’re about the folks who laugh at the same dumb jokes you do, have been there for you through thick and thin, and are still friends with you despite your seventh grade yearbook photo.”

“Jimi reminds me that being a kid again is necessary, and that life is beautiful. He reminds me I’m alive. He’s just about one of my favorite people on earth.”

“Going to different colleges hasn’t kept he and I from staying in touch, and in fact we still team up for big trips from time to time. This photo, taken on a mile-long zip line in Costa Rica, sums up our friendship: Constantly going in different directions, only to be reunited on another platform later on.”

“Once you wrote me: “Promise you won’t forget me, because if I thought you would, I’d never leave.” (from Winnie the Pooh) I never did. And I never would, even though we live on different continents now. Whenever our next meeting comes, I will teach you to ride a bike and you will teach me one more Chinese character.”

“One day, years ago, I told you I was considering transferring colleges. You reflexively replied “Don’t!” and made a face that broke my heart a little. Thanks for being the reason I stayed at school. It’s always comforting to know that someone is afraid to lose you. Everyone should have that person.”

“After getting through a difficult stage in my life, I began an annual ritual of greeting the New Year out in the silence of the desert. One cold December I was about to head out alone when my dear friend Julie, who had never been camping before, asked to come with me. We had time to talk about anything and everything — but what I appreciated most was that we could be quiet together and just be.”

A few minutes ago I read this one Twitter: “You were born because you are going to be important to someone. You’re going to be the very special person in someone’s life.” Aw.

Thanks to Pictory (a favorite) and my friend Vera – who I love – for sharing this lovely series.

Please do the following, it will make you happy.

Get-in-the-door ritual.
The first thing you do when you get home? Put everything away.
Put clothes away.
Simple. Put it into the laundry basket or pack it away. The floor is a no-go zone.
Wash my bowl.
Eat. Wash. Simple.
Prepare meals in advance.
What Sunday evenings are made for?
Just step out the door.
Walk. Run. Get moving.
Clear distractions.
Get rid of clutter. Focus.
Take a walk & reflect.
10 – 20 minutes. Lunch time is perfect.
Breathe.
Most people do not understand the power of breathing. Remember to breathe.

Read the original article here.
Leo, thank you for making my life simple, little by little.

What does this day mean? What do you have to do?
Not much, you just have to be awesome.

There is a very long list of awesome people, too long to list them all – but here are a few.

♥ Narayanan Krishnan (video), a man who dedicates his life to washing and feeding people in India. It takes a lot of awesome to do what he does (especially because most people will think of it as ‘ew’).

♥ Water. Everyone needs it. Scott Harrison had a birthday party and asked everyone to donate money towards a good cause. A few years and a few birthdays later, they have provided water to people all over the world. Amazing.

♥ Osvaldo Cavandoli created something awesome – La Linea. Remember him?

♥ If you follow my blog, you might remember Shaka. At first he might seem a little strange, but listen to what he says, really listen. It makes me sad and happy (at the same time), every time I listen to him.

“This world is about love man, the sooner off everybody understands that, the better off everybody will be. The trick and the secret is not to wait to be my age, and then say yeah he was right! Aiight, you do your thing.” – Shaka

♥ Influencers. They are all around us, here are a select few that you might be familiar with. Gotta love Jeff Staple, gotta love.

♥ Oh, and sloths. Sloths are very awesome.

If you are not sure how to be awesome, this might help.

According to Tina, ‘do what you like. Repeat.’

There will always be someone who tells you that your idea is dumb or that it will not work. What happens when you listen to them? You doubt yourself. Been there, done that. No mo, no mo…

Just do what you do, and do not do it for money. Do it because you love it.

See? Simple.

You can thank Austrian based designer, Moritz Resl, for this simple design.

P.S.

One minute after writing this post, I read a Seth Godin blogpost titled ‘Make big plans’. It starts with ‘Make big plans… that’s the best way to make big things happen.’ Please read the rest.

Must-read.

Frank has great ideas. One being ‘The Being There Diary‘. You will love it, and for only $16 you can buy one for next year too. It is a paperback diary, so it is light enough to carry with you wherever you end up going. The 218 pages will keep you busy.

Every day it will ask you one question.

“What was the very best moment of your day?”

You will like it.

“It’s a universal job, like G-d gave us a job to be here and take care of people.” Amen.

Thanks to Dan for sharing this.

Let’s add something to that.

If you are happy with who you are, it does not matter where you are.

I have been living in Narry’s Hole for 5 and a half years. The Hole got its name, because it is small, old and I never liked it. The Hole still has the ‘originals’ – the kitchen still has the wonky wooden cabinets with the red ‘marble’ counter top. The bathroom still has magic mint green tiles and a black toilet. Yup, very 70s, but not necessarily the cool 70s.

“Ugh, this is not good enough.”

The majority of people around me constantly had problems, some would complain about work, and nothing would ever be good enough.

And then? What happened then? I got stuck in a rut.

And then? Then I went to bed one day. Woke up the next morning and decided enough is enough.

The easy option is to run away. If you forget about your past and all the daily reminders of who you are, it is easier to move on, right? Stop lying to yourself.

Honesty is key. Being honest no matter what. Do not lie, not to others and not to yourself.

I started doing what I love, looked at my bucket list and thought ‘why not?’.

Today, I am happy with myself. Painted my bedroom walls charcoal, have hot pink all over the place, wear crazy leggings (zebra print still being my favorite), I travel to cities I have always dreamed of making my home, I meet people I have always wanted to meet.

And do you want to know what is ahhh-ma-zing? I am attracting people who are in the same headspace. People who are happy with themselves, people who have made it big and are still working towards becoming an even better version of themselves.

If you can dream it, you can do it. Reading a book, will not help you. Books offer advice, but it is only once you start doing something – and you follow through – that everything will fall into place.

“When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – unknown

I am dreaming bigger than ever and yup – I am making it happen.