There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome.
You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do.
You thought you were strong.
You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it?
The awesome.
Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?
Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?
Look at her. She is full of awesome.
You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.
All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.
Amelia says Good Morning.
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Update: As I type this, on Sept 15, this post has 412,00 views. I hope that means 412,000 people choosing to live their awesome.
With all the fanfare, since Pigtail Pals is a tshirt company for kids…..we made up some tshirts full of awesome. I hope you like them.
You can buy them HERE. 3 designs, 10 colors, sizes infant – adult.
861 Responses to “Waking Up Full of Awesome”
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Oh. My. Goodness. This *post* was awesome! You worded this so incredibly well. Thank you!!
Shell´s last blog ..ChaLEAN Extreme – Day 2 – rest ‘n prep!
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Wow, I needed that – brilliantly put, I’ve printed it out and am putting it where I can see it everyday. You’re spreading the word on Pinterest too! Thanks for your inspiring positivity! Jo
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[...] ways to empower my girls. And look for the other women who are creating change. Blogs like this one are a good place to [...]
[...] post is called: Waking Up Full of Awesome and it. is. awesome. And it so spoke to me …and a crapload of other people, too, as you can [...]
Want to help your older girl experience some “awesome”? Check out the Girls on the Run program sponsored by YMCA. It’s a running club/self-esteem class for girls 8-10 and culminates with a 5k. Now that’s AWESOME!
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Everyone else has already said most of what I’d like to after reading this incredibly insightful piece of work. Brilliant! Thank you for reminding us to tap into that inner invincibility we used to feel so naturally. I’m going to share this with my granddaughters’ parents!
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[...] read this post around the same time, as a friend had shared it with me. A fun [...]
[...] on someone else’s blog, and since I can’t say it any better myself, I leave you with this. Happy [...]
[...] from Pigtail Pals, which you should absolutely check [...]
This is such a happy picture.I wish all our girls were so happy for who they are.
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Fantastic post and dead on correct! What happened to the awesome?? I was fortunate enough to have a good friend send me the link to this blog and I will certainly be forwarding it on to many as well
Thanks for the inspiration!
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Thank you for reminding me to find the girl that made me sparkle when I was a kid! Brilliant post.
Peace!
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I thought someone took my awesome years ago and I have been trying to get it back ever since. I learned that awesome lives deep inside where noone can get to it unless you let them. My niece wakes up like this every day and I love it! Great job!!
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[...] of mine posted something from this blog a while ago that was really well written and inspiring. (read it here) What a great resource for parents, particularly for those who encourage their daughters to be [...]
You know, I read this about once a week. I get teary eyed every time. Thank you for this.
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Richele Reply:
October 15th, 2011 at 10:01 pm
I also read this at least once a week. It makes me feel different in my own skin. The power of words. The power of children. The power of community. The power of women and girls. It’s all here. I wish I could get everyone I know, heck, everyone in this world, to read this post and take back the awesome. Somewhere along the way, I’ve misplaced some of my awesome, but I’m searching myself and finding it again, but by bit.
This is my favorite thing I’ve ever read online. Ever.
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melissa Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Thank you Richele!
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Hiya,
This was posted on Facebook by my brother’s sister-in-law, Christine Yokoi.
I saw this and had to repost it myself.
Having a daughter that is almost 2, it got me a little choked-up. She IS currently full of awesome. She is bright, funny, and stubborn. It breaks my heart to know that there ARE people out there who thrive on pissing all over someone’s awesome.
I hope, with equal efforts from my lovely wife, to instill in her the knowledge that NO ONE should be allowed to take that away from her.
Thank you for an awesome post that had me thinking, really thinking, about perceptions, presented images and beliefs of perfection, and the farkin’ truckload of awesome that children possess……and how it gets crushed when people aen’t careful or just don’t care.
Thank you.
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[...] Waking up full of AWESOME! There was a time when you were five years old, and you woke up full of awesome. You knew you were awesome. You loved yourself. You thought you were beautiful, even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers. You loved your body, and the things it could do. You thought you were strong. You knew you were smart. Do you still have it? The awesome. Did someone take it from you? Did you let them? Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough? Why the hell would you listen to them? Did you consider they might be full of shit? Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model? Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold? Are you freaking kidding me? Look at her. She is full of awesome. You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back. All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out. Courtesy of pigtailpals.com [...]
THANK YOU!
KellyBe´s last blog ..BE(ing) awesome
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[...] it to me. Click on the red words to see the original post – it’s worth the visit! Waking Up Full of Awesome There was a time when you were five years old, and you woke up full of awesome. You knew you were [...]
[...] the blog post that was inspired by the cool pic of this rockin’ girl. So do check out Amelia at pigtailpals.com and read what her mother has to [...]
[...] grow older, we allow society to take away that awesomeness. My favorite line from this blog (found here) is when the author says, “Did you consider they (the people trying to take your awesome) might [...]
[...] Waking Up Full of Awesome August 3rd, 2011 | Author: melissa http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/waking-up-full-of-awesome/ [...]
[...] posting some of my faves here, starting with one a friend sent me who knows my daughter wakes up full of awesome every day. It usually looks something like this (by the way, she’s not a ghost, that’s [...]
Thank you, I am a 42 year old woman who did lose her awesome many years ago, found some of it 3 years back and am learning everyday how to keep it.
My wonderful, loving daughter sent me this blog and I am so glad she did because yes, I do now remember my awesome.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, author and my girl. LOVE ya
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Awesome post complete with awesome shirts that make me feel awesome!
Have you considered putting a stencil of the adorable photo ^ on a shirt? I feel like it would take them from awesome to super-mega-ultra-combo-awesome.
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melissa Reply:
October 18th, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Hi Charli -
Thanks for your kind words.
That will be in the works soon….and it will be awesome!
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[...] Waking Up Full of Awesome [...]
She’s full of awesome because she’s THIN and her family gives her everything she needs.
Fat kids, kids with thick glasses, ugly kids, kids whose parents can’t afford to buy them nice stuff or clothes are stripped of their “awesomeness” by other kids.
Sadly, it can happen in every stage your life.
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melissa Reply:
October 28th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
How do you know if she has everything she needs? Wants? Owns nice clothes?
This kid is full of awesome because she can’t help herself. She loves herself and everything about life.
I know beautiful people who lost their awesome. I’ve met some of the poorest kids in South Africa who have literally not a pot to piss in, but are full of awesome.
I had thick glasses as a kid, I kept my awesome in tact.
Awesome is a choice. It is about resilience.
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[...] http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/waking-up-full-of-awesome/ [...]
[...] a site that’s dedicated to redefining what “girly” means. In her post, “Waking Up Full of Awesome,” Melissa helps articulate what I’ve always felt but haven’t before articulated. [...]
Melissa,
Keep writing! You can make a difference in a lot of girl’s lives with your ‘awesome’ perspective. I went camping by myself this weekend, built a campfire and stayed in the woods…..hiked and took photos. Awesome! I’m 63 still doing some things for the first time, by myself.
Life is full of twists and turns and girls are tough.
Love to you and yours,
Chris
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melissa Reply:
November 1st, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Thank you Christine! Keep on being awesome!
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Love. This. Post. So much so that I linked back to it on my blog http://broadh2o.blogspot.com. Thanks for sharing this incredible post.
Wendy´s last blog ..Waking Up Full of Awesome
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[...] to be more like her, and hope, hope, hope, wish and pray that she never loses that. She clearly wakes up full of awesome. Just look at [...]
[...] A few months ago, a friend sent me a link. [...]
[...] An excellent girl power website that one of my favorite moms shared with me is pigtailpals.com (by Melissa Wardy) which is a site aimed at raising girls and empowering them. Check it out at: http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/waking-up-full-of-awesome/ [...]
Just plain AWESOME and so true. Thanks!
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Not only is your daughter full of awesome, so are you and because of that your daughter will be full of awesome forever!!
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I was sent the link from a friend for your Awesome T-shirts because I have been posting on Facebook for about a year posts about being awesome, finding your awesome etc. I even have several pictures that I use as my profile page that state “Never underestimate how awesome you are” etc. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog. I think everyone should read it, recite it in the morning and keep it in their reach for any bad days. I know that I’m not the only one who blogs or posts on FB about being awesome, but I am so happy to come across this site- and see others spreading the awesome! And I’ve already got one of the shirts on my Christmas list!
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melissa Reply:
November 16th, 2011 at 10:02 am
You were ahead of the awesome curve, as it were
Glad you liked the post!
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This changed my life!!!
Truly!
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[...] This is one of my favorite blogs that I just had to share with you because, let’s face it, you are Awesome! http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/waking-up-full-of-awesome/ [...]
[...] few months ago, a friend sent me a link to this full of awesome blog post and I can’t think of any word for it other than awesome. It truly is. And yes, I [...]
[...] Waking up full of Awesome. {Thanks, Dez! also, pardon the few french words} [...]
LOVE this and SO true!! Once again you hit it right one- and gave us all a reason to remember how awesome we truly are and how it is imperative that we nurture our children’s awesomeness!! Thanks Melissa!
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I love this post. I have it bookmarked and visit it at least once a week. I printed it and taped it to my kitchen cabinet where I can see it several times a day. My close friend and I remind each other, “you are AWESOME” as often as we can. I am trying to get my awesome back, and working to make sure that my children never lose theirs! This post has really been inspirational for me!
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melissa Reply:
November 20th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Thank you, Deborah! Stay awesome!!
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[...] I contacted the original author, Melissa at Pigtail Pals to ask for permission to republish her post. Thank you, Melissa, for giving me the green [...]
Thank you for this today. I am always telling others things like this, but I fail to remember it for myself. Thank you for reminding me.
I am still awesome!
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[...] Nik Lemmens on December 4, 2011 Last night I was doing some research and stumbled across this pigtail pals blog post. Somehow we seem to forget how awesome we once were. We get influenced day in and out. The news, [...]
Brilliant post. We shared it on our page for our readers. I must say I have been struggling with that myself lately. My ex husband tries time and time again to take my awesome away. I printed this out to keep for my daughter, my sons and I to read over an over again! Thank you so much!! XO Kimberly
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This really spoked to me! thanbk you so much for reminding me about my AWESOME!!!!
I hace 3 young daughters and I want them to always hold onto there AWESOME!!!!
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THANK YOU!!!!!
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[...] my Drew Bear a very happy two hands today Birthday! May you always wake up every morning full of awesome! As you will always be one of my favorite surprise presents of all [...]