Part 4. The Delicate Balance

This is the 4th my series on Happiness. If you want to catch up on the other posts, you can find them on my beBee.com blog page. https://www.bebee.com/@jim-murray

“Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”   Jim Rohn

A couple of weeks ago I saw an article by or about Bill Gates, and the headline read: Busy Is The New Stupid.

This was a Charlie Rose interview (Bill Gates & Warren Buffett) from a while back and its really worth watching if really want to understand about where you should put your priorities. (https://tinyurl.com/y7dl36rk)

In a nutshell. Mr Gates was looking at the weekly planner of Mr Buffett, and was totally freaked out that over the course of the week he was looking at Mr Buffet only had three entries for meetings. Mr Buffett’s reply was one of the simplest life lessons I have ever heard, and it’s one of those things that stuck with me, especially as I was moving away from the breakneck pace of work that I had managed to sustain for more than 40 years.

As an aside, I really do believe that had I stayed in Toronto, I would have carried on at that pace indefinitely. But two years ago we left and moved to a much smaller community, where the first thing I realized was that the very nature of this place itself slowed you down.

I fought it for a while, until I finally realized that this was robbing me of one of the most important things I came here to gain, which was time. Time to think. Time to breathe and relax, time to do nothing. Time to do whatever I felt like doing. Time to get back in touch with myself on a level that my career had kind of forced me to neglect a bit. Time to be, you know, happy.

Finally, I dragged myself over the line and got in sync with this new environment. I got re-balanced and learned to use the time I was gaining from not having wall-to-wall work days, and in the process a lot of the ‘tightly wound’ old stuff slowly melted away.

And the result was that as it did, my level of happiness rose to new heights.

It’s Not Retirement. It’s Just Different

Any major change that happens in your life will throw things out of balance in ways both large and small. But if you embrace those changes instead of resisting them, you will move through them, and back into your balanced state more quickly and more completely than if you have to be dragged kicking and screaming to that place.

I was talking to my sister about this a couple weeks ago and she was saying the one of the best things she has in her life is the ability to wake up in the morning and just say….today, I’m gonna do nothing in particular. Have no schedule. Have no to-do list. Because sometimes, even if for the sake of your mental health alone, you just gotta do that.

You can file this under working smart vs working hard. Or you can simply think of it as some guy telling you to slow it down a bit and smell the roses. The time you gain and the peace of mind that comes with it will equip you well for the times when you really do have to kick some ass to get things done.

Happiness Kicker #4

“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.”   Thomas Kinkade

There are many balances that need to be maintained in order for you to feel happy and fulfilled in this life. I have found that if you get one of them into balance the rest will come that much easier.

Till next time.

Jim Murray is a writer, photographer, thinker and a bit of a preacher. He is also a Canadian, but will never apologize for that. His company is called Onwords & Upwords.

He has published more than 1100 long format posts over the past 20 years, and never seems to get tired of writing new ones.

You can follow Jim in the following places:

On beBee: https://www.bebee.com/bee/jim-murray

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-murray-b8a3a4/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimbobmur

On Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/y97gxro4