Hey friends,
There’s a lovely quote from Kurt Vonnegut that I’ve been thinking about this week.
“And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.”
Not gonna lie, I lead a pretty happy life, but even so I often forget to notice that. I tend to move from one thing to the next, rarely stopping to appreciate where I am. Since coming across this quote, I’ve made more of an effort to notice when I’m happy, and to think “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is”.
A few specific moments come to mind - last weekend I was in Spain with some university friends, and we were chilling in the drawing room of our AirBnB at 2am, having a good old DMC (deep meaningful conversation). At some point in the evening, the Kurt Vonnegut quote came to mind, and when I appreciated how nice the moment was, I couldn’t keep a smile from my face.
But equally, yesterday I was driving home from work, an Audible audiobook playing in the car and a McDonald’s latte in my hand, and again the thought came to me: “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is”.
There’s so much evidence (scientific and anecdotal) that cultivating gratitude in our day-to-day lives makes us happier. I’m trying to actively remind myself of that each day.
Have a great week!
Ali