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. Whether it was lima beans or patches of fresh grass, it was a classic move to study Sunlight vs. Shadow, Music vs. No Music, or Watering Plants vs. Pouring Coke on Them.
    2. Coke is bad. Speaking of Coke, did you have that kid who left a tooth or some nails sitting in it for a month? The groundbreaking research typically concluded with a harsh indictment of the entire soda pop industry. And maybe some scattered business cards for the kid’s dad, who was a dentist.
    1. The one that didn’t work. Every science fair had a few of these gems. They were sad and beautiful at the same time because that long-faced ten-year-old standing in front of a dim lightbulb was learning how to deal with lost efforts and how to get back up after a stumble. Keep that chin up, tiger. You’ll get ’em next time.
    Yes, beautiful science fair moments were always a perfect close to months of hallway passion, energetic classes , and long lonely nights cutting block letters out of construction paper. Letting kids learn, letting kids dream, letting kids try and try and try—well, there’s just so much good that comes of that.
    As they bottle insects, jab wires into lemons , and rub magnets together, you can see the whirring gears spinning with delight. Yes, all that learning just sponges, soaks in , and sticks there forever as a new generation of curiosity seekers gets their buzzing minds moving us all forward and forward and forward ...
    AWESOME!

The moment after you wake up from a nightmare and suddenly realize it was all just a dream
    With a dropped jaw, buggy eyes, and sweaty palms, your hot, salty head pops up from your warm pillow in a heart-pounding state of emergency. After a second of massively intense panic where you zoom into brain-rushing, adrenaline-gushing overdrive, it suddenly just dawns on you ...
    It was all just a dream.
    It was all just a dream.
    It was all just a dream.
    AWESOME!

Pain
    It’s there for a reason.
    Whether you’re shredding your legs on a raspberry bush, scalding your hand in hot water , or taking an arrow to the chest in the forest, I got bad news for you, brother: That’s gonna hurt . Yes, when our bodies take blows, those powerful jolts make us cry salty tears, run for the hills, or crashland in hospital beds with limbs hanging everywhere.
    But that pain really is there for three big reasons:
    1. Stop! ... Bandage time. The first thing pain does is make you stop doing that painful thing you’re doing. Your brain focuses every neuron on getting you out of Danger Bay and returning you to Safety Beach. Stop! You’re lawnmowering your foot. Stop! You’re leaning on an oven burner. Stop! You’re dancing in much too baggy pants.
    2. Long live the cast. Pain reminds us to take care of injured body parts so they can heal. We lean on crutches so our ankles can untwist, plaster broken arms so bones can set, and bandage cuts to prevent infections. Throbbing migraines send us to dark rooms and bum knees get us limping because that’s what we need , sister. Pain’s just whispering advice to send us down the road to good health.
    3. Fool me twice, shame on me . Pain’s whole plan is to get us to stop doing painful things long term. Think of pain as a cranky granny shaking her finger when you sheepishly come schlepping up the front walk battered and bruised. “No more running through raspberry bushes, mister,” she starts. “No more checking hot water with your fingers. And no more medieval battle games in the forest.”
    Now, if all that wasn’t enough, our egghead pals over at Wikipedia even report that people who don’t feel pain actually live shorter lives. Maybe that’s because pain’s just there to do a job for us. It motivates us to flee hurtin’ scenes, protects our body while it heals, and teaches us to avoid painful places in the future.
    Pain’s our invisible Life Coach, sewn into our bones , twisted in our DNA, and