“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.

I love this idea. I heard about it through Ali Abdaal. He uses it as a little gratitude practice that he sprinkles through his day. I’ve been using it too, and I find it pretty effective for a short little burst of joy and satisfaction and appreciation for the good in my life. And those short little bursts do seem to add up, sometimes.

As a little bonus, check out this 3-minute video of Kurt Vonnegut himself talking about this idea.

PS. After I watched that video, and thought about it for a moment, I thought to myself, “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is!”

This is the type of recursive thinking that I think I can get behind.

Another Bonus: While writing this, I realized that Maria Popova has also written about this. Her piece is a little bit longer and a lot more fleshed out, so if you’re into this, her essay might be a nice next step in this gratitude rabbit hole.