3 Secrets To A Balanced Life – Dory’s Story

 

 

Do you know someone who, just by their mere presence, uplifts you? Someone who makes you internally smile as they walk into the room. Someone who adds to your personal energy, leaving you in a more positive frame of mind. Luckily I am blessed to know a lot of folks like this but once in a while, I meet someone who, not only contributes positively to my day, they also leave me with a thoughtful life lessons as well.

Dory is one of my regular clients at the little vintage shop where I work part time. Sometimes she comes in with her husband but mostly she whirls in all by herself. She has an energy about her that attracts my spirit and I get a little zing of happiness because I know we’ll have a little visit that will boost me up like a jolt of caffeine.

Our conversations have run the gambit of topics from current events and fashion to the world health of bees. Her husband is an apiarists, or less common, an apiculturists but you and I would just call him a professional beekeeper. What ever the conversation though, it is sure to be lively and engaging.

Now I have a horde of regular customers who I enjoy vigorous conversations with. It is one of the top reasons I enjoy my work at the little vintage shop but yesterday I was given a better understanding of why that is when Dory came through the door.

 

Mastering life happens when the joy we have for our work and play feels the same.

David Scott Meerman

 

Dory is a nurse. She works in the maternity ward at the local hospital. As a health care worker working in a place where folks are sick, hurt and even die, there is no happier place than the ward that brings new life into this world. To see a life begin. To see the instant love of a mother for her child. To see families come together in hope for the future on a daily basis. How could that not fill your being with life affirming energy.

But there is more to her than just the fulfillment she gets from her career, Dory is truly happy and content with her whole life. Of course she has challenges like the rest of us. Her body aches and lets her down on occasion. She does not live an affluent life but she has lived a full and rewarding one that is rich in ways more important than money.

Dory’s life has deep meaning and that purpose of life comes from her deep commitment to everything and everyone in her circle of influence. She has friendships with histories spanning back to her youth. I know this because I was lucky to meet one of her girlhood friends and see the close bond they shared even though they now live worlds apart from each other.

She confessed yesterday that she’s still romantically in love with her hubby and admitted, with a faint blush, that he still has the power to make her weak in the knees even after 40 plus years.  Which not only warms my heart and makes me reflect on my own happy marriage, but it’s also cause for amazement because not only does Dory and her husband love each other and still love what they do for a living, they are in their early seventies.

Think about that the next time you grumble and drag yourself out of bed to get ready for work. These folks could easily retire and live a quiet, sedate life and in fact could have done that years ago, but because they both truly love what they do, they actively continue on with the commitments of their calling.

And there in lies the secrets to living a balanced happy life.

 

First, commit to what you love.

Yes there will be times that you will question your choices. There will be times that you wonder why you got into the career you did or what possible moment of madness made you fall in love with your spouse but if you take the position at the very beginning to fully commit and seal in that decision, then the challenges that arise will be filtered from a very different perspective then if you let every problem erode at your happiness.  Commitment creates a strong foundation from which you can base future decisions on. Think of it like the construction of a house. Over time the building may require renovations and upgrades, you may even add on a room or two but if you poured a good strong foundation at the very beginning, the house has the strength to support the many changes to come.

Find joy in the simple pleasures of life.

Relationships, health, and the beauty of life are what will bring you contentment. Being connected in life, and with life, is the most basic of human needs, yet many have disconnected themselves from the most rudimentary and life affirming sources of joy. Humans crave face to face connection. It is in our DNA. No amount of social media will ever replace the magical power of real life interactions.

Count your blessing and do it out loud.

I know this sounds hokey but science has proven that by finding a few things each day to be thankful for is the simplest way to ward off depression. Whether Dory is aware she does this or not, every time we talk, she offers up examples of what she is thankful for in her life. And whether she’s also aware of it or not, by her doing that, she makes me aware of things I am thankful for also. Blessing are meant to be shared so that joy can be spread to others.

Have we lost touch to the true meanings of life? Have we made life too difficult for ourselves? Could the answers to a happy, balanced life really be as simple as 3 basic truths?

Such elementary philosophies; commit to your choices, find joy in the simple pleasures of life and share your blessings. Dory is a poster child for this timeless wisdom and by observing her it has lead me to believe that life is really as uncomplicated as that.

But try these timeless secrets out for yourself and see if you don’t live a happier, more balanced life too. Because, after all, isn’t that why we are here, to experience this human existence to the fullest? Because it certainly can’t be to just work hard, pay bills and be miserable.