Seeking the ‘Hallelujah yes!’ moments

Take a moment to ponder: What’s that one thing that, when it happens, makes you want to shout, “Hallelujah – yes!” and fight the urge to do a fist pump?

I’ll bet if you take a minute, you might even think of several. I surely can.
My latest entry into this file of mini delights is the “Jump to the Recipe” button. As I reported in a previous “Journey,” since the New Year, one of my gentle goals is to cook more often and to aim toward healthier dining options.
For me, this includes poring over online recipes sent via email each day from Betty Crocker, All Recipes, Southern Living, Pillsbury and Pinterest – not to mention what shows up in my Facebook feed. I love the help and entertainment that these online pages supply. But, please – in the name of all that’s good – just get me to the recipe and spare me your life story.
(Which is rather ironic because many of my columns recount large portions of my own life story, including this one. Well, no one ever said the universe had to make complete sense.)
Anyway, I always immediately put a mental checkmark next to the blogs that offer this jump-to option. For the others, I silently grumble all the while that I am scrolling. I know, I know … We should look for and celebrate the good in life and cease all the complaining.
So, with that thought in mind, I decided to come up with a list of other “Hallelujah – yes!” instances that sometimes pop up in my daily routine.

• A perfectly ripe avocado.
• Synced green traffic lights all the way down Louisville Avenue in Monroe.
• Waking up before the alarm.
• A new check-out lane opening up when you’re at the end of the neighboring line – and you’ve got a straight shot to the new cashier with no one in your peripheral vision.
• Finding money in old clothes.
• Remembering a forgotten password on the first try.
• The elevator that arrives right away.
• Hearing the Keurig make that little gurgling sound and that marvelous black liquid beginning to immediately – and I mean immediately – flow into your cup.
• Having your phone battery last until you get to a charger.
• When you snag the last piece of your favorite dessert at a party.
• Your favorite song on the radio ending just as you pull into your driveway.
• Discovering a forgotten treat in the back of the pantry.
• Perfectly popped popcorn with no unpopped kernels lingering in the bottom of the bag.
• Finding a parking spot as close to your destination as you can get (unless you’re counting your steps).
• When the opening credits of one of your favorite movies unexpectedly appear when you turn on the TV, and it’s been a while since you’ve watched it, and you now have a couple of leisure hours to spare.
  So, the next time life throws a mini-delight moment your way, whether it’s perfectly popped popcorn or synced green traffic lights, embrace it. Sometimes, it’s the little joys that add up to create a symphony of happiness in our day-to-day lives.
  Keep an eye out for these unpredicted yet pleasing surprises, and who knows? Maybe you’ll find yourself doing a literal fist pump and actually shouting not only “Hallelujah – yes!” but also “Woo-hoo!”