People are awesome.
Seriously. People are way more awesome than we give them credit for.
Yes, there are a handful of jerks whose sole existence is to suck the life, dreams & happiness from you because they’re upset about their own unfulfilling existence, but there are way more awesome people out there than you think, and I’m glad I know so many of them.
This really came about from just observing on Saturday. Running the triathlon on was really awesome, but what was almost even cooler than that was seeing the support coming from those not running it. I honestly was floored to see all the people cheering everyone on as they went through the course and crossed the finish line. That was really awesome.
With that in mind, here’s a short list of people I’m grateful for:
- Kyle for agreeing to run the triathlon with me.
- My brother for letting me steal his bike [even if it wasn’t triathlon appropriate].
- My sister for helping me try to smash my bike into my Ford Taurus as I tried to bring it to Valparaiso.
- My sister’s old roommate for letting me steal and use her bike rack when I realized my bike was NOT going to fit INSIDE of my car.
- My Mom & Dad for randomly driving 2 hours to come and watch without telling me.
- The guy with the sprinkler out in his yard pointed right at us as we ran by his house in the 90+ degree heat.
- Everybody on my facebook wall & page for the encouragement.
The support on Facebook was amazing but I was absolutely blown away by twitter. Seriously, my twitter feed was blowing up Saturday as I seemed to get congratulations from almost everyone including: Matt, Nina, Sarah, Haidn, Mark, Jess, David, Mark, Patrick, Nate, Kara, Trever, Steve, Tyler.
[On the off chance I missed your tweet and/or left you off the list, let me know and I’ll make it up to you. I screw up sometimes.]Thanks for the encouragement before, during and after the race. I honestly really do appreciate it. I’ve said before that surrounding yourself with the right people is essential if you want to do impossible things, so I wanted to say a big thanks to those of you that were a part of that. You are all seriously awesome.
Also, If you’re awesome [hint: chances are you are if you’re reading this] and we haven’t met, emailed, twittered, skyped, etc or you know someone who’s awesome and I should get to know, get at me and we’ll figure out a time. I’d love to hear more about the impossible things you’re doing and if there’s anything I can do to help.
Keep Being Awesome
###
Joel
Speaking of awesome people, I’m meeting up with a bunch of awesome people tonight. The Indy meetup of Way Below Status Quo Roadtrip is tonight. Colin Wright [Exile Lifestyle], Andi Norris [Instigationology], and Ashley Ambirge [The Middle Finger Project] are swinging through Indy on their way from New York To LA. Adam Baker [ManVsDebt] is organizing a meetup just south of Indy. If you’re in the area check out the event, RSVP and come on out. We’d love to see you.10 bonus points to the first person who knows how many times I used the word “awesome” in this post.
When you decide to go after something, the world conspires to help you get it. Way to go, Joel.
Can I steal that quote?
You’re awesome Joel! Love your site and what you are doing. It’s been really great to connect with you recently. You’ve been a real encouragement to me. Keep rockin’ it!!
Matt-
Loved getting to know you the past few weeks. Looking forward to doing it more!
Love it brother!! Right back at ya!! ha
Haha, Thanks Patrick. Pumped for what you’re doing. Keep me posted when it goes live!
I’m so glad that you felt the love! I’m also glad that Twitter is such a place of encouragement; I feel it there too.
Rock on, buddy!
PS – @IgniteAdventure’s name is actually Mark. 🙂
Thanks David! I’ve been amazed at how Twitter connects people. Absolutely blown away.
Re: @ignite adventure – I know, I just got in touch with him the other day. I actually meant to call you and him out in the post but I was writing your name and linked his account. That will teach me to try and multitask. I’ve fixed it now!
HAHA! That’s awesome. I have a bunch of Tweets that I look back at and think “What was I doing when hit update on that? It doesn’t even make sense!” At least your’s didn’t look bizarre. 🙂
Funny too that you would combine us because Mark and I talk on Skype all the time. Speaking of which… 😉
One of these days I’ll get an editor…
Then again, maybe not =)
Haha, I love this conversation stream guys. This isn’t the first time someone has mixed up David and I. Anyways I can’t believe I just saw this message stream until now. Congrats on the triathlon again!
Thanks Mark! It was definitely of a case of me typing faster than I’m able to think [something that happens more often than not].
Do people mix you two up often?
Hey, thanks for the mention! It’s really easy to be encouraging when you come across someone who has goals and is really going after them. It’s selfish really, I encourage you, you do impossible things, and I get inspired and go after my own “impossible” list. Everybody wins. 🙂 Anyway, congrats again! Can’t wait to read about your other triathlons, especially once you get the proper bike.
Haha, Dang bike =)
By my count, you used awesome 12 times throughout the post. So give me those bonus points. Oh we should skype できるだけ早く！Thats the Japanese equivalent of ASAP
Sorry Chris. David already guessed it…plus it’s technically 13 if you count the title =)
People ARE awesome, including you man. I’m glad you posted this. I’ve had similar experiences where it’s just amazing the support that comes from people, many of whom you’ve never even met in person. It’s something that a lot of people still don’t understand, but it’s very real.
That’s what I love about blogging & twitter. You can connect/meet people you would have never had the chance to before.
You’re right, it can be hard to understand but it’s still very cool.
Hey Joel,
Now I’m holding you accountable to root for me when I go for a marathon! (Now just to get past, oh, the 2 mile mark?) 😛
By the way, look at the reciprocity in action even in this post–thanking all these awesome people, and already this article’s gotten more comments than just about any other on the site. Pretty cool.
Best,
Haidn
P.S. As mentioned elsewhere, you’re pretty awesome yourself.
P.P.S. Love the photo for this post.
I was hoping someone would pick up on the photo =)
Truth about reciprocity – it’s all about how you treat people =) although this article still holds the record for monster # of comments – http://www.impossiblehq.com/5-great-early-morning-activities
As for your marathon, keep me posted. Do you have a date picked out yet?
No, the marathon is definitely a longer-term goal. I just watched a few documentaries on marathons, and I thought: now that’s something I’d like to do. What a great challenge though.
Haidn
um, hellllo. What about those who suggest awesome blog names?
Those who suggest awesome blog names are implicitly awesome =)
I owe you big time 😉
Hey man – Thanks for the shout out. It’s been good talking to recently. Congrats again on the Tri, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next!
Definitely man, You’ve got some big things ahead yourself! Excited to see what you do.
Joel, YOU are awesome!! 😀 Such positive, energetic people can only attract more positive and energetic people to you!
Thanks Nina!
Next time I’m in Chicago, we should definitely meet up!
Wow, this post is awesome and I’m RT’ing it right now! I use the word “awesome” way too much, so I just had to read this post, and I love it! Thanks for being awesome, Joel, and for writing such amazing stuff. You’re truly inspiring. Thanks!
Awesome Rick. 🙂
Hmmm, what do I have to do so that my pic shows instead of the generic icon?
Gravatar –> http://en.gravatar.com/
Have you seen the youtube video called ‘People are Awesome”? Worth checking out- while it’s pretty insane things, it’s still really inspiring. People ARE awesome!
You mean this one? Yea, it’s pretty awesome.
I am so glad I found this site Joel! There are a few things that I want to do that I have considered impossible.
Just after one day of ‘knowing’ you, I am closer to thinking it is possible!
Thanks so much for sharing!
That’s pretty cool man, congratulations on finishing your triathlon!
For an awesome and amazing video, check out Running The Sahara, it’s pretty rad!
Sergio
I’ll check it out. Sounds like it could be a good fit with Nerve Rush.
I joined your site yesterday, it was recommended by my good friend Johnny Nasello. I’m reading your amazing email this morning and getting excited inside… I have some thinking to do about Why!!! I look forward to sharing my story & doing the Impossible….
Have an Awesome Day!
Jess
Phew. People are awesome…. But running a triathlon is crazy. Good on you for roughing that maddness out. Phew!