Raymondblog

I must do whatever it takes to keep me at my best. This includes Yoga classes, chiropractic and massage visits and the hardest for me - downtime. When I take care of myself and let the assistants take care of the practice I have a thirst- a drive to help the kids.




I schedule the massages and exercise time during work hours – I used to feel guilty but now I know if I don’t do these maintenance procedures I will miss work or even worse get burned out.



BLOG OF INTEREST

MAINTAINING MYSELF OR NO DENTISTRY GETS DONE

I love to cruise and not just because of the port of calls. I like the day to day running of the ship. I love to walk the decks of the ship and watch the ship crew at their daily activities. Ship life is interesting because some form of cleaning or maintaining is going on all the time. I met two interesting people on my last cruise the Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. They both taught me a valuable lesson.



First was a painter named Raymound from Africa. He told me painting the sides of the ship is ongoing. He paints six days a week for three hours year round. Once he is done painting the whole area of the ship that he is responsible for he starts the process over again- 'from where he started'. It is an on-going, never-ending process. This made me realize that we have to be on-going and never-ending in our attempts to keep our lives and possessions at their best. Once we have maintained what we are responsible for we must then go back to the beginning - the start of it all. This applies to most things in our life-housekeeping, lawncare and car maintenance. This is a routine that must be repeated over and over- it is never ending.



As I continued my stroll around the ship I drew correlations in my own life. Dentistry is pretty rigorous on the body. I work out in one form or another six days a week. Every day is dedicated to a body part or area. Once I have trained all the various areas I start over again with the first body part trained. I had never thought about myself as 'something' to be maintained but without training in this manner I would not be an effective dentist.



I remember another conversation I had with Raymound. I asked him why he didn't just paint eight hours straight and get the job done quicker. He could have a couple of days off! It seemed more efficient to me. He stated that if he painted more than three hours a day his shoulder and back started to hurt. He said that was counter-productive because then he had to spend many days recuperating and no painting got done. I could see corrlelations there as well. I work about 5 hours a day four days a week. If I try to add an additional day or increase my hours per day I feel pain in my wrists, shoulders and neck. I must listen to my body to know what my limitations are. To work past my limit is counter-productive. I hurt myself and spend days recuperating. No dentistry gets done.



My conversation with Raymound was just as memorable as the sights I saw in Haiti and Jamaica. Through his insight I realized why my daily workouts were so important. I also learned that pushing my body to the limit is counterproductive because injury means no training and possibly no dentistry.

So I will maintain myself through scheduled, short but intense training and working periods indefinitely because maintenance is on going and never ending.



It’s a Daily Balancing Act ….They take care of me- I take care of them



I had shopping bags in my hand and was walking to my red Silverado truck. The parking lot was obscure and tight. Eight vehicles were packed in like a can of sardines. As I was approaching my vehicle three women came toward me. They were intimating and tall with broad tattooed shoulders. They started heckling me. Taunting me. They demanded my packages. I was scared but I had spent hours looking for these purchases and was not willing to give them up. I said no and started to move around them. I had the truck keys in one hand and my brain was instructing me to use it as a weapon but I realized I was no match for these amazons. The biggest girl snatched the bags from my hand and they descended on my purchases like a hungry pack of wolves. I had decided an ass whooping was not worth a few clothes. I turned to run and pulled my cell phone from my pocket and desperately dialed 911 but my fear made me clumsy and I kept misdialing.

I made it about ten steps then I anticipated what would happen next before I could even feel it. One of the girls grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me around. "Give me your car keys!" Her breath was hot and rancid in my face. "GIVE EM TO ME NOW!!!!" Spittle specked my face. She was that close.

There was no way in hell I was giving her the keys to Freddy's truck. Too many memories were wrapped up in that vehicle and plus it was paid off. However her vise-like grip on my shoulder changed my mind. Suddenly the vehicle was not as important as avoiding the pain that would ensue. With a whimper I handed over the keys and whispered "please leave me alone". "Poor baby" they taunted. I watched them jostle each other as they pushed the unlock button on the keys to discover which vehicle they had just stolen. I narrowly jumped out of the way as sped out of the parking lot.



Two weeks later I return to the scene of the crime. This time I have no purchases; I am on a reconnaissance mission. I park my tahoe in the same parking lot and begin to look around. This time I notice details that I had noted before. The neighborhood is shady and run down. There are homeless people wandering aimlessing around. Why had I come to this particular neighborhood to shop and why had I not noticed this two weeks ago? Before I can take ten steps a couple of people start walking toward me. They call out to me. I do not catch their eye and attempt to walk by. Again my instincts kick in and I know I have become prey. But this time I am pissed...I do not like being pushed around by people bigger than me. I engage them in an argument this time - giving back just as good as I took last time. Within minutes I realize that once again I am over my head and my fear is incredible. I look toward the street and see a nice looking black kid walk by. I yelled out to him, imploring his assistance. He turns into the parking area and smiles at me broadly. It is then I realize he is not a friend but foe. With incredible strength I break away from my captors and barely squeeze into my car. In my haste I drop my keys but I am quick enough to hit the lock button on the door. As I reach down to retrieve my keys I get a muscle spasm from my neck down my shoulder and across my back. I force my arm to put the key in the ignition and the Tahoe comes to life. While backing the tahoe out I hit the parked car to my right. The cars seem impossibly tight especially with the hoodlums leaning over the windshield and standing on the running bars. I accelerate hard and slam into the car parked behind me. I drop the gearshift into drive and prepare to stomp the accelerator. I look up and stare into the faces of four people blocking my entrance into the street.....



and then the phone rings.



I hear Freddy groggily say 'hello' and realize I am laying in my bed. Freddy is on-call this week and has answered the phone. I realize my back is in a full muscle spasm and my hands are clenched so hard I have to work to release them. However I was not a victim of a crime. It was only a nightmare but my body is not yet convinced of this fact.



I could not get the images out of my head. People say dreams are our subconscious mind trying to teach us a lesson. My reaction to this dream was so strong that I could not let it go. Laying in my sweat-covered sheets my mind ran though the dream again and I realize some correlations to my life.



In my dream I was unwilling to relinquish my purchases and the truck to protect myself from pain and injury. In real life I too often hurt myself in my attempt to protect what I have achieved. Sometimes that which I am holding on too is not worth the undue injury upon myself. I need to set limits to protect myself and decide if the goal is important enough to endure the pain.



Secondly, in my drive to achieve sometimes I am not aware or focused enough to realize the climate or situation I have gotten myself into. In my dream, that neighborhood was shabby and unsafe. There were safer areas to shop - I would have found the same merchandise. Where in my life do I put undue stress upon myself when another path would be safer but just as effective?



Lastly, I realized that I am stubborn. I didn't learn my lesson the first time - no I had to return to the same place where I had narrowly missed being beat down previously. I do this in my life repeatedly. It is almost as if I have to prove to myself that the first way I chose was indeed the best and I just have to work a little harder to prove it.



That nightmare was hell. I hope never to repeat it. But as I write this fourteen hours later I realize it taught me that I need to protect myself from pain and injury, and I must be aware of my environment and I need to ensure that I don't put myself in the same unhealthy situation in an attempt to achieve my goals. Perhaps these lessons can save me from a nightmare in real life.

Posted by Debi at 6:16 PM 0 comments

Labels: crime, life lessons

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

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LIFE MAINTENANCE

I hate to reschedule a patient because I am feeling poorly or heaven forbid take a sick day but I would feel worse if I injured a child because I was feeling under the weather. The same goes for a busy day. Just last week my last appointment of the day was a new family of four. Each of the children had gross decay. My hands actually ached to repair the teeth in their mouths however I was tired from the long day and as much as I hated to I placed the kids on antibiotics and rescheduled.



The parent can always be given the excuse of a ‘hot tooth’ or ‘too much infection to numb’ to reschedule.

There are days that I can be pig-headed and push myself to do more than I should. My staff have become very adept at knowing when I am at my limits and I have given them permission to call me on it if I go too far. It was not easy for them to do this at first – and in one case I ignored what they said and continued working anyway. Then I realized I cannot give them permission to put the brakes on me and then discount what they say. If one of the assistants is under the weather they can trade out with another assistant who is performing less strenuous duties for the day. I, however does not have that option.