life 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.

December 7, 2016

What cancer taught me about minding my MIBs

Like this story? Then check out my book Misadventure Musings: Lessons learned from life’s awesome and absurd moments.

April 10, 2016

Luck: Lessons learned from a man named Frank

We all like to think we’re in control of our lives. But as I learned from a fellow cancer patient, luck is still very much part of the equation. “I’ll see you when you get out,” I said, shaking Frank’s hand. Part of me knew I was lying. I’m no doctor, but I had a […]

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 […]

July 3, 2015

How an optimistic attitude can help you succeed

Since my bone marrow transplant in 2008, my blood type has changed from A-Negative to O-Positive. That change has become a metaphor in my life about the importance of turning negative situations into something positive. In this guest blog on the website Wealthy Gorilla, I explore the benefits of a positive attitude in life and […]

June 1, 2015

Lessons from Almost Dying: Appreciate the Everyday Awesome [Tiny Buddha]

I had the privilege to write a guest post on one of my favourite life advice websites, Tiny Buddha. In this story, I talk about the “reasons to fight” list I made during my cancer treatment and what it taught me about enjoying life’s simple pleasures. Check out my article here. .

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 […]

April 26, 2015

Benefits of Camping: Lesssons learned from five farting men in a yurt

Farts. The butt of so many jokes. The joke of so many butts. Growing up, I firmly believed that flatulence was infinitely funny; that cranking one out and laughter went hand in hand. Always. But a winter camping trip with some friends proved I was wrong. Dead, stinking wrong. Emphasis on the stinking.

October 18, 2014

Life’s Twists and Turns: Lessons learned from three bison

In August 2013, my girlfriend Ashley and I loaded up my Hyundai Accent and struck out from Waterloo, Ontario on our way to Vancouver, British Columbia. We drove through the US on our journey west, and indeed, it was a very American experience.

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 […]

July 20, 2012

[Blog] I am a Hobo Torpedo: Friends over stuff

By Josh Martin “My friends are my estate.” – Emily Dickinson Waterloo, Ontario—It’s ten-thirty at night and I’m hurtling down a deserted street inside a shopping cart, like some hobo torpedo. As my mobile, metal coffin rattles down the road at mach five I suddenly realize something—I’m an idiot. It had all started two minutes […]

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