“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.”― Kurt Vonnegut Jr
The idea may pale in comparison to diligently writing down three daily gratitudes in a sophisticated looking journal as you sip on your morning coffee, but it has strangely worked out better for me. Trust me, as a sucker for journals, I have tried plenty a time to keep one. I wanted with all my heart to be one of those people who preached about the life-changing effects of this practice, but my lack of entries clearly stood in the way of manifesting said benefits. As such, the simplicity of conjuring a phrase seemed much more attractive and achievable enough... spoiler alert: it was!
Some simple pleasures in the past few days:
- Laughing hysterically with friends while watching Twilight and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
- Looking into the garden with the sun soaking through the windows while I breathe in the steam of my fresh coffee (!!! warms up the hands and smells great too !!!)
- Belting out Stuck with U by Beibs and Ariana on the way to get coffee with my sister
- Calling friends and having a good rant about every aspect of post-graduate life
These moments are usually easy to forget, either because I'm so deeply immersed in the chaos of my everyday or merely because nothing special or of actual importance is happening and therefore does not warrant a second thought. But hey, let's back track for a second because isn't that the whole point of the whole gratitude phenomenon? It's the realisation that you don't need to experiencing something exciting or radical to be thankful and appreciative, the realisation that gratitude originates from your mindset. H O W P R O F O U N D and, in many ways, extremely freeing.
It was hard to wrap my head around at first because I generally considered myself a grateful person, someone who is cognisant and appreciative for most of the things people in my life do or have done for me. BUT, this quote is less about when something good happens to me and more about feeling good. Does that make sense? I could be having the worst day of my life and decide to phone a friend for a good cry, but it is in my power (and ability) to then remind myself how nice it is to hear a comforting voice and have someone who will listen to me sob and sniffle to my hearts content. Isn't that wild?! Even if your external circumstances remain the same, your everyday can still change by tweaking your inner voice. Think of it as a small step towards mindfulness.
Life doesn't have to be exciting and eventful to be good. I just need to look and recognise the good things. Apologies if this old news to you, I just want to drive it home for the people in the back (i.e. myself). Okay, yes I know it's not easy (if it were, the world would be VERY different) but if you keep practicing it slowly starts to come more naturally. Paste it all over your walls, have it as a desktop background, write it on your hands, tattoo it onto your thigh - start somewhere, anywhere to remind yourself.
If you do happen to find yourself in the same boat as me, or haven't tried this yet, I urge you to notice those moments of happiness in your day, even if just a glimpse, and remind yourself 'if this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'
Until Next Time,
Joyce
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