Feel Good

Last week I was on vacation. There are many definitions of vacation but the first one I found when I looked up the definition is – “a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel.” I think that is a fairly good definition but for me it is missing one key point.
Most of us look forward to vacation. For some it might be a time to relax or “unwind” or maybe sleep in and be lazy. For others, like myself, I look at it as having time to do things I love to do or to put it a different way – things that I am passionate about.
I know what you are thinking – but you are a dentist….aren’t you passionate about that? I have been a dentist for 18 years and there is no doubt that I love what I do. The fact of the matter is, it is difficult to stay interested in anything without growth. I take a lot of continuing education in dentistry to continue to learn and grow in my profession. However, like most people, I have interests outside of work that I look forward to during vacation.
Every weekend is a vacation. I look at it that way because I always want to have a “vacation” to look forward to. Whether we are working or we are in school, we all look forward to time away from our daily routine. Having said that, whether it is a weekend or a longer vacation, I get up at the same time, generally go to sleep at the same time, and I exercise, which is all part of my daily routine. For me that is important because it allows me to spend the same amount of time doing some of the other things that I am passionate about.
So, what’s the key point that I think is missing from that definition of vacation? I think it should include the idea that we want to do things that make us feel good. If you aren’t feeling good you are feeling bad. If you feel bad you are not growing, and if you are not growing you are going in the other direction, which is not good!
While I love what I do on a day-to-day basis during the week, I am passionate about learning. I like to learn and grow in my profession but I like learning in general. I believe that is the key to growth and feeling good.
My father is a good example of this. He has been a veterinarian for 50 years! That is a long time to do the same thing. He still loves what he does, although he does it a lot less these days, but he always learning….not just about veterinary medicine but about other things that he is passionate about. At 75 years old he is still learning and growing.
I had a patient in the other day who is truly passionate about bike riding. While that is not his profession, it is obvious that he loves bike riding and is constantly striving for improvement and growth. Bike riding for him makes him feel good. And that is the key point – when you feel good you are happy and we all want to be happy.
There are things that we have to do in our day-to-day lives that don’t necessarily make us feel good. Many of those things cannot be avoided. However, in general, we should try to avoid those things that do not make us feel good. For example, I do not watch the news very often any more. If you watch the news on a regular basis I would bet you know why.
So, if you find yourself not as happy as you would like to be, stop and write down a list of the things that bring joy to your life. Make time to do more of those things, or even just one. Pick something that you want to learn more about and “grow” with it. I truly believe that happiness is a choice.