Nearly everyone experiences it.

We get so caught up in our work or other day-to-day responsibilities that we overlook many of the world’s simple pleasures and intoxicating wonders. But, when we pay attention, life can be an extraordinary treasure hunt that will lead us down paths we never imagined, says Sandra A. Miller, author of Trove: A Woman’s Search for Truth and Buried Treasure. She certainly has made the effort to untether herself. Miller says she has found that a few ways to live life like you’re on a treasure hunt include:

Start each day with a prayer of gratitude. This doesn’t have to be a religious thing. Miller says it means savoring and showing appreciation for family and friendships; for the joy a favorite song brings; for every experience that teaches you a little more about yourself and the world; and for any small thing that might be insignificant to others, but holds meaning for you. 

Engage with people, even strangers. Technology makes it easy these days to become isolated from others. “The antidote to that is putting down our phones, looking someone in the eye and saying, ‘How is your day going?’” Miller says. “If they don’t want to tell you, they won’t. But chances are, no one else has asked them. Who knows what treasures these conversations will reveal?”

Look for clues and signs everywhere. “I try to stay open to the found things on my path; from words, to signs, to love that announces itself to us in hundreds of ways each day,” Miller says. “That bird. That baby in the stroller. An early spring daffodil. I feel pleased with where I am in my life, and I’m not looking for something else to make me happy. But I still stay aware of all these treasures around me.”

Sandra A. Miller, author of Trove: A Woman’s Search for Truth and Buried Treasure, teaches in the English Department of the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She previously worked in the editorial department at NAL/Penguin and later worked as a literary agent.