Knowing awesome

Awesome is a lot simpler than you think, because you used to know awesome quite well. Everyone did at one point. Especially when we were kids.

I was reminded of this one night as I was walking down the hall at home. My daughters were brushing their teeth, an event that usually boils over to an international crisis.

This time, though, they weren’t fighting for sink space—they were talking literature.

I heard L.E., my 9-year-old, say to her little sister, McRae, “Did you know that the guy who wrote The Twits also wrote James and the Giant Peach?”

I heard McRae respond, “I know! I love that guy. He’s got a great imagination, like me.”

Like me. What a powerful declaration.

Roald Dahl has been called the greatest storyteller of our generation. He also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He’s sold millions and millions of books.

And in McRae’s little 6-year-old mind, his imagination is on par with hers.

He’s her peer.

You used to believe like that too.

You used to turn sticks into swords or dirty flip-flops into glass slippers.

You climbed trees and made forts and thought being a doctor wasn’t out of reach.

Nothing was out of reach.

Then, somewhere along the way, you lost it.

Source: Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff