Life is not about powering through mentally as you follow a formula, it is about learning how to trust and follow your heart. There is no one “right way” of doing things that fits everyone. All too often though, people fall into the trap of trying to “do it right” which brings stress and worry. Life is so much sweeter to live if you can just “bee right” with God and yourself.

A honeybee buzzes along through a meadow on a warm summer morning and lights upon a flower. She gathers golden grains of pollen upon her legs and drinks deeply of the flower’s nectar. She stays until her work is done, then moves along to another. So simple, yet so wise.

Another bee enters the meadow but follows a wavering course. She seems to hesitate and change her mind as she flies along. Finally, she lands on a flower and gathers a few grains of pollen but then hesitates again. “Am I on the right flower? Should I be over there instead,” she wonders turning toward the goldenrod at the edge of the meadow. “Or there?” She starts to fly to a different flower, but then looks back to the first one, perhaps it was the right one after all. Finally, exhausted and confused, she heads home to the hive with only a few grains of pollen to show for her day.

Mindy Bee collapsed in her corner of the hive and breathed a sigh as she reviewed yet another frustrating day. “How does Soula do it?” she wondered. It seemed so effortless for her friend, but to Mindy, it seemed impossible. Just then Soula passed by humming a song to herself.

“Soula,” Mindy called. “I saw you in the field today and you seemed so confident. How do you always know which are the right flowers?” “Oh Mindy,” she said, “you don’t need to worry about that. Just be right instead of trying to do everything right.” Mindy thought about what Soula said all night.

For the next week Mindy watched Soula closely. She counted how many flowers Soula visited per trip, how long she danced in the hive, how many trips she made, and how far she flew for each trip. By the end of the week Mindy had a template for how she could be right like Soula. The next morning she flew out on a mission.

She flew the median distance and then visited an optimal number of flowers before heading back to the hive with the largest load of pollen she had ever collected that early in the morning. She danced the correct number of minutes before heading out for another load. At the end of the day she was exhausted but this time also had a feeling of accomplishment. She had achieved her goal. The next day she followed her template again, and then again. Each day she came home exhausted but the feeling of accomplishment was weaker each day until finally it was gone. She began to wonder if she had missed something.

Watching Soula dance Mindy noticed something she had missed before. Soula danced with joy. Now that she had seen it, Mindy began seeing joy in her other bee friends too, even when they were not dancing. Where had they found this joy?

That night when her friend came humming by Mindy stopped her again. “Soula, where did you find joy? Was it on a special flower? I tried to be right like you said, but I think I missed something.” “You’re still trying to do it right, Mindy. Relax. Enjoy the sun and the beauty of the flowers. Just go where your heart tells you,” Soula said. Mindy thought about that all night long.

She flew out the next morning not knowing what to do without her template. She stopped on the first flower she saw and all the old fears held at bay by her rules came back. What if she chose wrong?

“Trust yourself!” Soula called as she flew by. Perhaps that was what Mindy had missed all along. Though it felt as if she were flying off a cliff Mindy took a deep breath and began to fly. The sun warmed her wings and a gentle breeze carried her further down the field. Below there was a flower she liked and Mindy landed on it. She drank the sweetest nectar she ever tasted and gathered golden grains of pollen on her legs, but when she took off again she felt lighter than ever. She visited one flower after the other that called to her. Soon, she was humming her own tune and when she returned to the hive, she danced with joy.

Written by Jean Enzbrenner