One weekend in October, I was with a few friends trying out an artsy new Latin American coffee shop in downtown Raleigh. At one point, all three of my friends went back inside for seconds, but I refrained myself as I follow a pretty strict “no caffeine past 2pm” rule.

So there I was, sitting alone outside at a table on the sidewalk on a beautiful day checking Instagram when my phone died at 20 percent. Instead of cursing at the Apple Gods for updating my phone without me giving the green light and thus blaming my phone’s premature death on this, I saw this as an opportunity. I’d been cooped up inside with the stomach flu all week, and as soon as I’d revived, Hurricane Matthew hit. Nearly six days without seeing the light of day and I was outside checking my phone? The millennial in me was annoyed, but the older spirit was delighted.

I took this opportunity to actively notice and appreciate everything that I normally would have been completely oblivious to had I been scrolling through my news feed. For example, an older, edgy-looking man wearing a “Beer, bacon, guns and freedom” t-shirt, who may as well have been featured on fashiondads_. I noticed the swinging couch at the French wine bar across the street – a place I definitely made a mental note to check out another weekend.

I noticed the way the wind blew the leaves in a circle in the street, one of the first signs of fall. I noticed the donation store across the street, remembering that I had several items to donate and complained that “I never had time” to donate them, but absolutely could have done that in the hour that I spent watching Netflix last weekend. I noticed how there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky on the day after a deadly hurricane. I considered how fortunate my friends and I were that the worst we got of it was losing power.

I noticed how the list of words painted in the window next to me were not only all coffee- or hot drink- related, but also in alphabetical order. The tiles around the entrance all had intricate and colorful designs. The café sign was blinking, a small imperfection adding character to the shop’s exterior.

I overheard conversations at other tables about a hostel in Raleigh and how Australian people often stay there, and it brought me into a short nostalgia of traveling abroad with my Australian friend. I met at least 3 dogs. And lastly, I noticed a beautiful North Carolinian man and fell in love almost as quickly as I fell out once I saw him linking arms with an equally beautiful woman.

Within a minute of my friends returning, my phone miraculously turned back on, but I left it off and continued to enjoy the day and my surroundings. I felt much happier and renewed than if I’d been making silent judgments while streaming Snapchat stories.

Mindfulness matters. It seems so simple and mundane, a secret to happiness that’s almost too good to be true. But trust me: try it for even just 10 minutes a day. I couldn’t explain to you the science behind the effectiveness of practicing mindfulness, but I can tell you that it reinforces positive thoughts. It triggers the part of your brain that allows you to be appreciative, so it only makes sense that spending more time appreciating will make you feel happier and more at peace.

I realize I am writing this to an audience who I assume is reading this on their mobile device or computer. I am in no way phone-shaming and am completely aware that I, too, am guilty of spending too much time making my usual rounds of checking Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter whenever I get even 5 minutes of spare time. I write this to share my experience and to explain how I have incorporated what seemed like a dire millennial situation – sitting alone with a dead phone and nothing else to satisfy my need for instant gratification – into my everyday life as I continue my ongoing effort to deter negative thoughts and conjure positive ones.

So instead of rushing to respond to the group chat about your plans tonight as you walk home, try taking a few minutes to notice your surroundings. Who knows? Maybe you’ll notice a rare type of butterfly hovering over a flowerbed in your neighbor’s garden. Or maybe you’ll find a $20 dollar bill on the ground. Maybe it won’t work for you, and maybe it will… doesn’t hurt to try.