There have been times in my life when the daily routine has become so predictable, so pedestrian, so flatly uninspiring, that I  have felt  like I’m going nowhere fast, seeing the same scenery incessantly over and over, and encountering nothing that piques my curiosity or grabs my interest, much less my intellect.

On one such day several years ago, I was struck by the scantiness of “joie de vivre” in my life and wondered how I might restore it. I wondered where it had gone, and why I hadn’t tried harder to find it. I determined right then and there that I would become a conscious seeker and consumer of moments of joy.  In the course of every day, I vowed to find at least one instance I could marvel at, smile about, and appreciate with less jaded eyes. I had intended to write them down in a “Joy Journal,” but never did. I still may.

Stretches of everyday life can sometimes seem monotonous, but I have faithfully sought daily joyful moments since that “aha” realization of long ago. I find them in places I don’t expect, in people I love, in strangers I admire, in the tenacity of optimism, in the beauty of a pelican in flight.  I find them everywhere, often far more than one a day. And I was not so surprised to hear the host of a recent radio talk show recommend this very same idea to others!  It is intuitive, therapeutic, and proves the old adage that the best things in life are free if we just open our eyes to find them.