Awesome. It was one of those fad words of my youth. No wonder the cover of the Book of Awesome caught my eye. A few pages in, I knew it would be a springboard for my counselling practice and a perfect gift for a good friend. This week I was fortunate to have spent a few days with colleagues at a conference. This allowed for a slower pace to my day and thus offered me time to reflect. Concurrently, I had discovered The Book of Awesome.

The two simultaneous events allowed me to reflect on five reasons why my job is awesome.

1.    500 adolescents in one place

This provides boundless energy at my workplace as well as an unlimited supply of clients.

2.    Opportunities for professional development

Time to challenge what you know, gather new information, collaborate with other professionals and the possibility of an uninterrupted lunch with colleagues: priceless.

3.    Working with caring people

Education isn’t for everyone. It’s a difficult job that is facing more challenges. So those who are in education care. It’s great to work and collaborate with people who care.

4.    Making a difference. Seeing students find success and striving for their potential. This might take years, but the work we do makes a difference.

5.    Getting a fresh start each year. I like to believe that both students and staff begin with a clean slate: the opportunity to fix ones mistakes and improve upon what we do.

I am also sharing my discovery of the Book of Awesome with my students. I read excerpts to groups and challenge them to practice mindfulness and look for their own daily doses of awesomeness.  Other ideas are for students to collaborate to create a Blog or a Book of Awesome of their own; and to create reflection posters: Why Jack is awesome? Why school is awesome? So far, the feedback from students has been, well, awesome.

Please check out the website 1000 awesome things and read the Book of Awesome. Encourage your clients to shift their perception and reflect on the awesome.

By: Penny Roadley

Pasricha, N. (2010). The Book of Awesome. New York: AEB/Putnam.

Pasricha, N. (2010). 1000 awesome things.

Retrieved April 19, 2011, from http://1000awesomethings.com/

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA