NonSociety – Live Differently. Julia Allison Prolific Emailer

Following My Lifecast: Here's a glimpse into my life. Scroll to the right to view chronologically, and click 'earlier' to see more.

Feb 11, 09 5:47pm
I’m going to be totally honest: I have never, in my life, been as happy as I am right now, and it has absolutely nothing to do with finances (I have no money) or men (I’m dating a lot of people very, very casually, but no one’s even made it to a third date yet) or best friends (Meghan, Mary & I have been going through some tough times in our relationship) or even family (my mother and I didn’t speak for the entire month of January.  I’ll tell you that story some other time …). I think I’m so happy because I am SO GRATEFUL for this life I’ve been given.  I think about being grateful all of the time - several times a day.  I never used to do that.  I think about it when I’m walking down the street with my puppy, when I drink my green juice in the morning, when I go to the gym (ha!), when I check my email, when I crawl into my bed at night (or, more accurately, in the early AM hours).  I thought about how thankful I was when I was on the flight to Munich, when I was in the car heading to Davos, in the tiny, barren rooms we had there (with barely any heat), when we were hiking through the snow in our boots, when we were skiing down the mountain and I thought I was going to die (or just break a femur or two) - at every dinner, in every interaction, I thought about it. My life is more or less the same - in fact, perhaps by “objective” standards, worse! - but I have never felt so blessed. I called my grandmother last night and she said this, “happiness is an attitude of gratitude.”  It’s so cheesy, right??  But I can’t tell you how true it is. And it’s the key to unlocking so much of the pain we’re constantly in.  Life throws us curve balls all of the time - events and situations and incidents which make our stomach sink with dread, our eyes well with tears, our throats close up with nerves.  These things can intimidate us and anger us and - let’s be honest - scare the shit out of us. But … I’ve found - and I say this only because I’ve tested it extensively over the last year - that if you take a deep breath, calmly take it all in, tell yourself, “this too shall pass,” and believe - just BELIEVE - that things will work out for the best, all the while continuing to realize the blessings you still have, however tiny or seemingly mundane, you’ll find a most extraordinary thing happens: you’re happy.

I’m going to be totally honest: I have never, in my life, been as happy as I am right now, and it has absolutely nothing to do with finances (I have no money) or men (I’m dating a lot of people very, very casually, but no one’s even made it to a third date yet) or best friends (Meghan, Mary & I have been going through some tough times in our relationship) or even family (my mother and I didn’t speak for the entire month of January.  I’ll tell you that story some other time …).

I think I’m so happy because I am SO GRATEFUL for this life I’ve been given.  I think about being grateful all of the time - several times a day.  I never used to do that.  I think about it when I’m walking down the street with my puppy, when I drink my green juice in the morning, when I go to the gym (ha!), when I check my email, when I crawl into my bed at night (or, more accurately, in the early AM hours).  I thought about how thankful I was when I was on the flight to Munich, when I was in the car heading to Davos, in the tiny, barren rooms we had there (with barely any heat), when we were hiking through the snow in our boots, when we were skiing down the mountain and I thought I was going to die (or just break a femur or two) - at every dinner, in every interaction, I thought about it.

My life is more or less the same - in fact, perhaps by “objective” standards, worse! - but I have never felt so blessed.

I called my grandmother last night and she said this, “happiness is an attitude of gratitude.”  It’s so cheesy, right??  But I can’t tell you how true it is.

And it’s the key to unlocking so much of the pain we’re constantly in.  Life throws us curve balls all of the time - events and situations and incidents which make our stomach sink with dread, our eyes well with tears, our throats close up with nerves.  These things can intimidate us and anger us and - let’s be honest - scare the shit out of us.

But … I’ve found - and I say this only because I’ve tested it extensively over the last year - that if you take a deep breath, calmly take it all in, tell yourself, “this too shall pass,” and believe - just BELIEVE - that things will work out for the best, all the while continuing to realize the blessings you still have, however tiny or seemingly mundane, you’ll find a most extraordinary thing happens:

you’re happy.