Life Lessons from a Dental Hygenist

I don't know about you, but I have never been fond of going to the dentist.  In fact, so not-fond, that I did not go for years...until I could no longer eat on one side of my mouth because of a sensitive tooth!

I bit the bullet- so to speak - and headed to a nice, new dental office in my new hometown.  They quickly fit me in to see the dentist, who was very nice even though I was so nervous that I tears ran down my face the entire time I was there.  After he diagnosed my issue, and set me up for cleaning (uggghhhh!!!) and deep scaling (!!@#@!$), I booked another appointment for the next day.  I was pretty proud of myself.

So the next day, I headed in to meet with the dental hygenist - let's call her K.  She was the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met.  I apologized to her for my nervous state and of course the tears.  K developed a plan to complete a quarter of my mouth at a time so that I would not have to endure the pain and stress for a long period of time.  She was helpful, educational, talked me through each step and let me hold the suction tube so that I felt like I had some control over the procedure.

We got through 1/4 of my mouth after numbing and freezing...I had to book another appointment to do the next section.  The office was placing bets to see if I would actually show up to do the next section.  I did!!!  And I was not tearful this time, just nervous.  But we got through it together.  K kept up a steady stream of one-sided conversation because it is tough to answer when her hand was in my mouth.  K also made sure that if I needed freezing or a break, we would take it.

Needless to say, after 2 more visits, and the purchase of a Water-Pik, I am now in a better position both mentally and physically.  If it weren't for the kindness of K, I never would have gone back.

Life Lessons: 

• while there are scary things to do in life, we need to do them and will be better for them
• people come into your life to get you through things and teach you along the way
• be grateful for kindness and pay it forward
• there are special people in the world, sometimes you find them, sometimes they find you!

Thanks K :)

The Meditation of the Earth

My garden is my haven.  I did not know it when I planted a few seeds in early April just to see if I could 'grow stuff'.

And guess what?  I can!  This is a red sunflower in my garden.  It stands over 6 feet tall with 3 other off-shoot stems and will have more than 12 different flowers before the summer ends.  Amazing.  And the bees like it too!

I was completely surprised by the peace and rest I found digging in the dirt, turning the soil to prepare for planting, planning out the seed beds and wondering if any of it would grow.  I planted vegetables, sunflowers and a wildflower butterfly bed near my back fence.

Whenever I needed a break from work, or life in general, I would head out to my garden and get my hands dirty - and the peace that overcame me was amazing.  Spending time in the fresh air, sunshine...and even rain, took away the stress of the day, helped me find solutions to problems and answers to questions.

The wildflower bed was interesting.  I hoed for 2 hours to prepare the soil, then sprinkled  wildflower mix from a container into the dirt.  It poured rain for the next 6 hours so I thought for sure there would be no garden to look at from the deck.  After the rain, it became very dry and as much as I watered, the water just ran off as the dirt was rock hard.  I decided to not be so attached to this part of my gardening experiment and about 4 weeks later, flowers started to sprout.  At first, I was not sure if the greenery was all weeds, and to my surprise, the majority was not.

Just like people, when given the right conditions and a chance to grow, they will surprise you!

Now my vegetable garden was a different story.  Everything started growing like crazy!  Tomatoes in June (had to stake them twice because they are so tall), cucumbers that have at least 250 more flowers to grow, pumkins crawling up the fence and potatoes invade the space of everything around them  I am now waiting for the carrots to get ripe to pick and have just pulled the peas from the beds.

                                                    

Just like people - they come into your life when you need them.  They may be 'scattered, all-over-the-place' or be straight up and independent, not tied to anything or anyone for strength, how we nurture them, care for them makes a huge difference to who they are today and will be in the future.

From the earth I have learned to tend the garden of my life.

Things You Never Know About Your Kids Until You Need To

My son was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinsons White Syndrome (WPW)3 years ago.  Have you ever heard of that?  I had not.  And luckily It was diagnosed because of another illness he had which took us to the emergency room in our home city.  After discovering this heart issue, we had appointments with a cardiologist, worked through stress tests and ECG's, but were told that the WPW seems to be inactive, though that could change as my son continued to grow and become more active.  Researched it a little on the internet, and were left feeling pretty confident that this was true.
My son is a stellar basketball player.  His dream is to play college ball in the US - to pay for school and so that he can continue a career in the sport he loves.  He plays a minimum of 3 hours a day on the court, not including work-out time with a trainer or practice time with his various teams.
In the spring of this year, while on the basketball court, he started to experience severe palpitations, some that would not stop for 3 hours. Scary!!  Especially since he was out of the country, with the team and I was back home.  We had no idea that this could start so quickly.
Smart kid - fouled out, got off the court, and settled down.  Took a while, but was fine.  He came home and we got him set up with his doctor immediately (or as quickly as that could be).  After a physical and ECG, he was told no sports until this is dealt with by a cardiologist.
Off to the websites to research what this meant, while the family doctor was booking with the cardiologist for us.  Wolff-Parkinsons White Syndrome can actully be cured.  The way to do it is to go into the heart and burn out the area that is causing the extra conduction. This is called a cardiac ablation.  This procedure is completed by a team of cardiac electrophysiologists.  Again - scary!!
After a stress test (in which my 17 year old lasted only 7 minutes) our cardiologist referred us to a specialist in WPW.  We had to wait 2 weeks for this visit and expressed our concern at the timing of the procedure.  Our specialist was kind enough to get us into the study lab as quickly as he could. In the meantime, lots of worry and wonder - someone was going to be inside my son's heart!
On our pre-op appointment, we met with a wonderful team who explained the procedure, answered all of my and my son's questions and showed us a video of how the procedure actually is executed.  We were told he could be in the study lab anywhere from 3 - 6 hours, then a minimum of 2 hours in recovery.  My son would need at least 2 - 3 days rest and then be good as new.  Imagine that?!
The day arrived (earlier this week).  My husband and I took my son to his appointment - we spoke little, each dealing with our own worries.The time came for my son to get prepped for the testing and procedure.  Off he went with a nurse - who quickly came back to get us so that we could wait with him until he went into the lab.  The comic relief my husband provided was beyond words.  We even have great pictures of my son walking himself, with his IV into the lab (which looked like a NASA setting).
Three hours and 45 minutes later, my son asked for me.  When I got to recovery, he was a little groggy but asked me if I was ok, and then told me the procedure was a success, the cardiac ablation worked!  He was so happy - we all were.  Nothing could take away the smile on his face, or the stress from my shoulders as seeing him healthy by watching the monitors on his heart looking normal.
Now it is 3 days later.  My son is rested, was out shooting baskets for the first time in 3 months (a little sore, but smiling), and we all feel like we have a fresh start on life.

Take a Chance

Taking a chance on anything is a risk - will I win?  Will I lose?  Will I be stuck here?  Will I fail?
What if you take a chance and succeed?  What if you take a chance and make a new friend?  A new business contact?  Even simply spend an hour of your life learning new things?
First things first - take the chances that come your way. 

Michael Jordan said you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Second - be open to the experience - positive or negative, you will learn something.
Last - more of the chances turn out to have a positive impact rather than a negative impact.

Go on..what chance are you going to take today?

Be a Role Model

 Here is a commitment that can take you over the edge. Are you a good role model for others? At home, in the community, at work? Think of a role model that has influenced you. What makes this particular person a role model? Is it how they act? What they say? What words describe this individual?


One of the things on your list is probably the fact that they act responsibly and with their values. They stand up for what they believe in, they participate and work to make things better, they always do their best and are first to admit mistakes and move forward. They have their head and their heart acting together, not in spite of one another. This is a focused individual from whom you could learn to prioritize events and tasks to ensure that there is balance for all the important things in their life. You can see from their actions that they are authentic and understand the influence they have over others.

How do I become a role model for others? Here are a few questions to ask yourself first:


• Am I ready to take on this responsibility?


• What are my guiding principles or values?


• Am I prepared to act in accordance with my values, always?


• Can I take on the challenge that being a role model will present?


• Am I committed to this role?

By taking a few minutes to answer the above questions, try to see yourself from other perspectives and put yourself in the role model shoes now. Would you want to follow this role model?

Fight Fire with Fire

When it comes to problems or fires breaking out in our lives, whether at work, home or in our communities, we need to be able to fight fire with fire. Take your positive attitude, your creative brain, your spirit and energy to the fight.

This will help you eliminate frustration and procrastination – tackle the problem head on.

Evaluate if it can be solved in small pieces or all at once.

Enlist the help of others where needed.

Sometimes we just need to drop everything and squelch the fire so that we can stop wasting time and make plans to move on to bigger and better adventures.

Happy Birthday Canada!

                                                   Celebrate Canada, eh!
I am blessed to live in a beautiful, diverse country that values the opinion and ways of others.  I have been fortunate enough to have lived and travelled all over the country.  My favourite city is Toronto, followed quickly by Calgary.  I would move back to Burlington Ontario in a heartbeat if life took us back that way.  I cannot believe the size of the raindrops in Halifax or the amazing sites off Newfoundland.

I have met people from every province and even judged International competitions for SIFE/ACE where Canada was represented so well, it was indescribable. The University of Cornerbrook Team worked on ways to harvest ice from icebergs and sell it to Las Vegas Casinos and bars because it took so long to melt...they even harvested drift wood and created and export industry for it to countries who did not have this natural and creative commodity to make furniture and art from at home.  By doing this, they put an abandoned fishery back to use, cleaned up beaches and employed people!  Only in Canada!

I am Canadian!

What other country could give you the Inukshuk?

                                       A Marker for Travellers to Find their Way

Or the amazing Maple Leaf?

                                         

What are you doing today to celebrate Canada?