This time last week I was returning from America and had a five hour layover at Charlotte airport in North Carolina. After about ten minutes in the terminal it had become my favourite airport ever. Not only could you sit in white rocking chairs on a tree-lined avenue, but they had therapy dogs for you to pet. I was charmed. They had tapped into two of my bucket list desires – to own a rocking chair and a dog. (I know, reach for the stars, right? What can I tell you, I’m a simple girl with simple pleasures.) What had felt like an excruciatingly long time to spend in a relatively small airport suddenly became a great time to relax and watch the world go by.

As I sat rocking in my chair, eyes closed and imagining I was on a southern porch at sunset, another delight grabbed my attention. Someone was playing the piano. I looked around to see a baby grand diagonally across from where I was sitting, and a young man playing the most wonderful music. I love listening to people play the piano, especially those with real talent, and I was absolutely mesmerised. Almost immediately people began to stop in their tracks near the piano to watch and listen. After a few moments they would reach into their pockets, pull out a wallet and drop a dollar or two into the tips jar.

But as I watched more closely I realised that something else was going on.

This wasn’t simply an exchange of a little money for a pleasant moment of distraction. No, something much more profound and precious was changing hands. Almost without exception, each person, having dropped their money in the jar, turned away and was beaming. Their joy was evident even from the distance at which I was sitting.

The transaction was a moment of celebration. We had been invited, implored, to stop in the middle of our busy days and spend a few moments relishing music, creativity and joy. To pause and wonder at someone’s skill, and to encourage and thank them for enriching our lives, albeit for a brief moment.

How many times do we let those moments of celebration pass us by? How many days have there been where pure joy has crossed our paths and we have barely acknowledged it, let alone paused to celebrate? We are too busy rushing to where we need to be, preoccupied with what we think is important. Or even worse – we’re on our phones. Heads are buried in the nonsense notion of having our fingers on the pulse, all the while we miss the treasure that’s right in front of us.

I think we miss moments of celebration every day, and it’s time to stop.

It’s time to stop and recognise real talent. To say ‘how wonderful’, ‘keep going’, ‘you’ve made my day’.

It’s time to say thank you to one who has served you well, to acknowledge their efforts not only to them but to their managers.

It’s time to pause and pet the dog, but also to spark a conversation with the owner.

It’s time to stop and smell the roses. To comb the beach for shells. To admire the view.

Children do it all the time but somehow, in our grown-up and important lives, we lose the ability to see what’s really important.

I think that most days will bring us at least one opportunity for celebration, if we take the time and adjust our focus to find it. What could be better? I want to start seeing each day as a potential gold mine of joy. Yes I will need to carefully sift through the distractions and the dross, determine what is masquerading as treasure but is really trash, and adjust my eyes so I can see the tiny sparks among the dust. But when I find them, hold them up and let them gleam in the light, it’ll be worth it.

Let’s celebrate and exchange real joy each and every moment it comes our way.

To do anything less would be an extravagant waste, don’t you think?