funny Archives - Badge of Awesome

October 10, 2017

Practicing gratitude: Lessons learned from duct tape and diarrhea

Gratitude. What’s so special about it, how can we cultivate more of it in our lives and what does it have to do with a wicked case of diarrhea?

May 9, 2017

What goes around comes around: Lessons from butt clay

You gotta love instant karma… Like this story? Then check out my book Misadventure Musings: Lessons learned from life’s awesome and absurd moments.

May 1, 2017

The power of words: Lessons from mushy French cauliflower

Forget the Eiffel Tower: the most memorable parts of my trip to France were trying not to vomit on my host family and learning to choose my words carefully. Like this story? Then check out my book Misadventure Musings: Lessons learned from life’s awesome and absurd moments.

February 22, 2017

What Meghan in the mud taught me about letting go

In the spirit of this story, this week’s Badge of Awesome goes to Caroline D. James for her article on Tiny Buddha “How High Expectations Can Lead to Disappointment, Depression, and Anxiety.” Thanks for the inspiration, Caroline!

December 24, 2016

Keep it Simple: Lessons learned from an idiotic Christmas tree

Putting in extra effort to make an event or experience extra special is great. But sometimes — like my disastrous attempt to find the PERFECT Christmas tree for my mom — you can overdo it. Like this story? Then check out my book Misadventure Musings: Lessons learned from life’s awesome and absurd moments.

February 1, 2016

Why “Never give up” can be awful advice: Lessons learned from sleeping on a woodpile in a snowstorm

Perseverance and commitment are awesome. But as an ill-fated camping trip in March taught me, sometimes we just need to know when to quit.

November 23, 2015

10 Ways to Seize the Day and Achieve Greater Work-Life Balance

When an angry man in Alberta chastised my definition of work-life balance, I stared at him like a doofus with nothing to say in response. And as I discuss in my latest guest post on Tiny Buddha, it wasn’t until I was half-way to Regina that I figured out what I should have said… Click […]

August 26, 2015

The Importance of Community: Lessons learned from chasing a Killer at 2 a.m.

Community plays a big role in our health and happiness — something I was reminded of the night I chased a Killer at 2 a.m. (ok, there’s a bit more to the story)

May 26, 2015

Nurturing Imagination: Lessons learned from launching a fireball into a house

I wouldn’t describe my mom and dad as helicopter parents. Partly because giving us a long leash was just their parenting style. Partly because with eight kids running around like a bunch of maniacs, you’d need a whole fleet of helicopters to keep track of us.

May 19, 2015

Owning Up to Our Mistakes: Lessons learned from getting shot in the eye with a pellet gun

“Kids these days.” It’s a familiar expression used to express disapproval of how far today’s youth have drifted from the virtuous and well-behaved ways of their elders. But you only need to hear a few stories from my dad about his ridiculous childhood shenanigans to see what a crock that is. Case in point: the […]

October 14, 2014

Failing Your Way to Success: Lessons learned from being blindfolded and left in a farmer’s field

Whenever my extended family gets together you can usually count on three things: a lot of boxed wine, a lot of Euchre and a lot of jackassery. Our Easter celebration a couple years ago delivered on all three counts and included an activity that my Van Osch cousins came up with: the Blindfold Game.

October 4, 2014

Knowledge and Responsibility: Lessons learned from a wolf in the woods

“With great power comes great responsibility.” – Voltaire (and Uncle Ben from Spiderman, of course) My eyes snapped open as I heard the low and menacing growl nearby. Even with my eyes as wide as they were, I couldn’t see much. It was late and our campfire was out. Though engulfed in darkness I could still […]

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