This delightful, thoroughly enjoyable book aptly titled An Awesome Book! by Dallas Clayton is just the perfect thing to brighten up anyone’s day.  It’s filled with pages of colorful child-like illustrations that made me smile:

The message is simple but really inspiring — don’t be afraid to dream. It’s one of those rare books where having finished reading the whole thing online (the entire book is available to read online), I still want to get a physical copy of — to hold and hug and read to sleep every night, lest I forget how important my dreams. Would make a great Christmas present for both kids and adults. Buy it at the Very Awesome World website.

And the lovely sequel, An Awesome Book of Thanks, is pretty darn awesome too.  It’s about gratitude for all things big and small, good and bad.

You can also get an unsigned copy of An Awesome Book of Thanks! for less at Amazon.

The Dream ball project was developed for the children of Third world countries like Tanzania, Congo, Rwanda and  Somalia. Children in these poor nations would typically make a ball out of anything — as long the material creates some sort of projectile when kicked — so why now turn an empty vessel used to contain medical supplies into one?

The Dream Ball is made of a Relife box, which uses  paper that can be recycled and may vary in intensity and elasticity depending on its thickness. Available in both square or cylindrical formats, the containers can be easily disassembled and, by following a few simple instructions, fashioned into a soccer ball.

Besides football, various sized balls such as baseballs or handballs can also be formed from different first aid boxes. A little bit of fun with a life-saving kit. Life’s a ball, indeed.

“There are two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle,
the other is as though everything is a miracle.”

I hope you choose the latter :)

“Our deepest fear is not that we’re inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”