Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Something you don't hear everyday from your dentist




Sometimes the most important lessons in life do not come from the ‘life experts’ or gurus we all run after to seek advice.  The answers we long to find does not necessarily need to be found elsewhere,  you may already know it but you just need someone to remind it for you.  

I realised this might be true- a week ago when I was in my least philosophic moment- how could you be when you are about to anticipate pain in one of your most sensitive areas. My mind was busy, rather in panic mode as I was trying to calm down my nerves.  I was a few moments away from a tooth extraction.

The least thing my dentist could do was to assure me it’s gonna be alright- and so she did a cleaning first before taking out one of my precious whites. Before the procedure, I asked her if she could straighten my left front tooth but she said I need braces for that. 

With a smile, I said that I was just referring to straightening the edge of the tooth (not the whole tooth itself). And so she did with drilling machine, then handed to me a mirror so I can check it out. I tried to conceal my blah expression but she read it right away- because I really didn't notice any  difference.

But she explained that going further ‘to correct it’ will cause more unevenness. (True, why fix it if it ain’t broken?) And then the unexpected I heard, coming from a professional more likely trained to criticise and look for something to fix - she said: It doesn't have to be perfect because that shows character- that's what makes you unique.

All this time I've been running away from something I shouldn't really be afraid of- from being flawed downright to a self made agony of a painless tooth extraction. Oh well... Life really has a way of giving you an assuring pat on the shoulder when you least expect it. :)

2 comments:

  1. nice one kat
    "It doesn't have to be perfect because that shows character- that's what makes you unique. "

    We are all guilty of trying to fix everything. I guess we just want things to be perfect.

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  2. True Denise, we want to be in control all the time but it is our weaknesses that fuels us to grow as a person.

    We just have to accept ourselves (what God gave us) and be proud of who we are.

    And the ones who truly love us will look beyond our imperfections.

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