Happiness is not circumstantial
Happiness is not circumstantial. And the only currency we have is gratitude.
Nathan, S6 E11 of Alone
Nathan was one of three remaining people in this recent season of the History Channel’s acclaimed series Alone. If you haven’t experienced this show, it’s about ten individuals getting dropped off in remote locations. The one who doesn’t tap out, wins. What I appreciate about the show is not only the survival skills and thriving, but also the mental and emotional processes participants share throughout their own video recording of their adventure.
*Spoiler Alert for Season 6!*
Nathan’s words, above, came as a result of his shelter going up in flames on Day 72 in Arctic steady subzero temperatures. (Yes, you read that correctly. 72 days. In the Arctic.) Although unhurt, he wisely made the call to tap out. The only things he didn’t lose were the clothes he was wearing.
Oh, and after making the call in late afternoon, which was pitch dark and below zero already, due to conditions the extraction team helicopter couldn’t come and get him until daylight. No shelter, no sleeping bag, and surprisingly not enough fire to keep warm.
At that point for him, the immense disappointment was less about not winning the five-hundred-thousand dollar prize and more about having to end the journey before he was ready to.
And that, my friends, is when he shared the words in the quote above.
Having lost everything, in both his current existence and in what was planned to manifest his future, he still had his inner compass pointing true.
Happiness is not circumstantial. And the only currency we have is gratitude.
What have you built and where have you thrived? What has burned up and burned down? Where can you follow the ever-present pull that points us to our direction with Source?
Going inward is all about the intention that is set, not about the setting that’s surrounding me.
Meggan Watterson, Mary Magdalene Revealed
What is your inside is your outside, And what you see on the outside, You see revealed on the inside.
The Thunder, Perfect Mind 4:30-31
gina drellack 