Is anyone else sick of hearing the word, “awesome?” It’s exhausting, over-utilized, and because of that, almost meaningless. But it seems we’re stuck with it, so why not turn it into a TEDx talk?
I did a TEDx presentation this past week, at Lehigh University. The title–Ending Our Addiction to Awesome–encouraged the audience to lighten up a little, accept “fine” and “okay” as outcomes, and relieve themselves of the pressure to be “awesome” at everything, all of the time.
It’s a message that’s near and dear to my heart, and one that I learned to embrace while my son was battling heroin addiction, and so were we, as a family, by default. It was the most challenging time of my life, and it taught me one of the most valuable lessons one could learn, especially in this time when everyone and everything needs to be “awesome” all of the time. You aren’t, it won’t be, and get on board, or you’ll drive yourself insane, or at least end up on anti-depressants.
Everything cannot be awesome. When we acknowledge that, work our brilliance, and accept “fine” and “okay” as outcomes, we free ourselves to be amazing where it matters. And bring ourselves to the place where we actually have a shot at being incredible.
I found my awesome last week, at Lehigh’s TEDx event. It was a ton of work, but it was in my wheelhouse, where I shine, and yes, it was amazing.
Don’t be afraid to embrace fine and okay. Let go of the stuff you kind of suck at, and work your brilliance. You’ll find your awesome, and yes, it really will be.