Putting the Awe into Awesome
The original version of this was posted on Leadership Couples by my wife, Lori.
How do you put some “Awe” into an awesome life?
Bob and Maria Goff have the answer.
They “do” life.
We were first introduced to Bob and Maria Goff in Donald Miller’s book, “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years“. (The book is a great read, by the way – but this post isn’t about Donald Miller – it’s about the Goffs.)
In the book, the Goffs welcomed to their house, a group of smelly strangers who were kayaking and camping for days in the rain. Bob Goff waved as the group was kayaking up the Jervis Inlet in British Columbia and then invited them to tie up at the Goff family’s dock. Maria and their kids fed the strangers, they all exchanged stories and the travelers were treated to a tour of the property. After 8 hours together, the group left in their kayaks.
The final word-picture of the encounter was of the Goff family – Bob & Maria, and their kids – waving goodbye as they jumped, fully clothed, off the dock into the water.
We became a bit curious about this Bob and Maria Goff. So we did a little research…
Who does this stuff?
- invite total strangers in to eat
- jump off docks into the water with all your clothes on
- start a neighborhood parade on New Years Day where everyone is IN the parade, not watching – and that parade has grown from a family plus a few to a huge event during the last 16 years. (click to see the video)
- write letters to foreign dignitaries to invite them to sleep over at your place because you want to ask them what they hope for – and even though they can’t come to visit, 29 respond. So you take your kids out of school to travel and meet and interview leaders all over the world.
- become Uganda’s official American consulate because you’re asked, build a school in Uganda, and champion people held in Ugandan prisons by using your skills as lawyer to prepare their cases
- live in ramshackle housing to save up enough money for the boat your kids want to have
- know your spouse spends every Wednesday morning at his “desk” at Tom Sawyer Island, Disneyland
- experience your spouse quitting something every Thursday
- see a girl for the first time and tell your friend, “That’s Mrs. Goff.”
- put peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under your future spouse’s windshield as part of your courting tactic
- call your wife “Sweet Maria”
- pick your wife a rose every morning from your garden
- through all the years of your marriage, help your spouse finish what he starts (page 51, Love Does)
- create and support a foundation to end human rights violations
- put your own phone number at the back of your book, and answer when the phone rings
- live with a poodle
- and more
OK. Maybe some of us live with a poodle. Or call our wives “sweet” every now and again.
But do our lives cause people’s jaws to drop with awe?
Awe: An overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration; fear and reverence
Do we live an awesome life?
I imagine being Bob Goff’s wife is not always a comfortable life. But I’m sure it’s interesting. As a couple, they make an impact. Donald Miller wrote a blog post with a few hints. And from reading Bob Goff’s tweets, I can see that he travels a lot, meets an extraordinary amount of people, and is fully involved when he makes friends. I was awed by Goff’s book, “Love Does” because it’s 31 chapters of overwhelming stories.
If you were to write a book with stories about your life – how many of your stories would cause the reader to experience an overwhelming feeling of wonder and admiration?
Bob Goff’s book has the subtitle, “Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World”. We all still have time to “do” life in our ordinary world. And we too can create awe-inspiring stories.
Here’s a challenge:
Make 2013 a year of experiences where you and your spouse share a bit of “awe”!
How are you going to start?
(There’s always the opportunity to start your own New Year’s Day neighborhood parade… )
Are you leading an awesome life? What are some of the awesome things you are doing?
How can the value of awe help you make a significant difference?
Today’s value was selected from the “Devoutness-Purity” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Value.
