Overcoming Fear

I am trying to be a brave girl. It's not a big thing, just my annual physical that I have managed to push off for 2 years. I can get queasy just thinking about it. My palms get sweaty and I can feel my pulse race. What's the big deal you ask? After all, I am a dental health care provider myself. Well, I have pegged it to traumatic experiences with 2 different childhood surgeries. Neither were life threatening but the experiences were both examples of psychological abuse at the hands of the nurses. Now I know things have changed over the years but I am now conditioned just like one of Pavlov's dogs. I regress to the young child of five and I feel I am giving all of my power to someone else from the moment I think of booking the appointment. Finding the right physician is the first obstacle. Empathy seems to be low on the list of priorities, they all seem rushed to get in and out of the room. I am on my third doctor in 20 years. Liked one but she moved. The second was all business and didn't listen, just jumped to conclusions. I have met my third doctor. She seems nice, more empathetic. My physical is tomorrow. I am facing my fear. Wish me luck.

The World is a Small Place

Now I'm not a traveller in any sense of the word. I have only flown once in my almost 50 years and I have only been to two of my provinces. We generally camp for our vacation and that is usually a couple of hours away. Nonetheless, I am astounded at how small the world is. I personally know two people who have been to the Antarctic. I have taught (several years apart and totally by coincidence) two people from the same village in Romania. We have met the half siblings to our puppy in different parts of Ontario and the father of the dogs hails from the U.S. We always seem to meet people who know people we know no matter where we go. My brother can be dropped into any city and bump into someone he knows. It's almost spooky. Now how does something like this happen? Well now my brother and I seem to have something in common. We share the gift of the gab. There are very few people we haven't been able to pull into conversation. Maybe this is what brings the Earth to a size we can relate to. When you start to relate to individuals the world shrinks (and opens at the same time). So expand your horizons while shrinking your world and have a conversation with a stranger. You'll both benefit.

Empathy in medicine

There has been a constant theme running through my life for the past decade. It has crossed through my dental hygiene career, into my reflexology career and on into my coaching career. It seems I am being pushed to speak about medical empathy. I am an empathetic hygienist/reflexologist/teacher/life coach and have a happy clientele to prove it. They are so thrilled to finally have someone who listens to them. I am not performing miracles for reflexology clients who come to see me and say I am their last hope. I am listening and at times I am finding habits that lead to their physical problems. Many times my clients have been told that their situation is hopeless, not necessarily fatal but it will not improve. This can become a self fulfilling prophecy for some people. Others look for people to give them hope and that is how they come to me. I listen and I tell them one simple thing. Nobody knows your body like you do and you do have some say in what your body can do. Many of them burst into tears when I say this. I do believe the body can do wonders if the mind is in a positive state.
The complaints about health care are coming to me fast and furious these days and I feel driven to comment. The few sites I have read regarding medical empathy are trying to quantify it in beakers and lab experiments. We are trained in empathy from infancy. At some point these medical practitioners choose to stop using it. Why, who knows? Bring it back. Your clients need it and you do to. Some day you will be a patient too.

Adjusting for Balance

I have been supremely busy lately brainstorming and developing seminars for my "Lunch and Learn" meetings. I plan on offering them to dental offices and doctors offices etc. Normally I thrive on work like this. My family room (also known as my office) is covered with binders that are designated for every project that I work on. Now this may sound chaotic but I do finish the projects I start, I just have a lot of projects. I move rapidly from lap top to text and back and forth while juggling laundry and ortho appointments and anything else that may come up during my day. Now my mantra is balance. I have no problem letting a dust bunny live a day longer than it should if I am really in a work groove. But this week I noticed I wasn't enjoying working on material that I am passionate about. So I have listened to my body and brain (and the birds chirping outside) and I have given myself permission to extend my timeline for completion. It was a long winter and spring and summer fly by. I plan on feeding my brain and body by taking a break. It may last a week and it may last longer. But I know my projects will be waiting for me once I have finished playing. I hope you all can achieve balance in your lives.

Turning a Fantasy into Reality

Well my dream house is up for sale again. It was listed in the fall and I viewed the photos daily, daydreaming and seeing myself in every room. It is a tad outdated but the bones of the house and the windows and view are phenomenal. Then all of a sudden it was gone. I had a physical response to that. My spirits sunk and I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. I never stopped thinking about it though and while I was stalking the MLS site I saw a photograph I recognized. It was the back of MY house. And now I am back to stalking the site and walking through my house in my imagination.

So what's the problem? It costs just under 2 million dollars. Now I am a big believer in thinking positive thoughts and in self fulfilling prophecies so here it goes. I want that house. I am by nature a nester and this is my nest. And so I am sending out the most positive energy possible in the hopes that my fantasy becomes a reality. Come on universe, I am picking colours already. Send me good vibes everyone. Fingers and toes crossed.

Creating your own Grand Canyon

Now I have never personally seen the Grand Canyon but I've seen the Hoover Dam. One was created by Mother Nature over centuries and the other was created by man in a shorter time frame. They are a great example of working at something small bit by bit until you achieve something big. It is great to look at the big picture of what you want to achieve but that can feel overwhelming at times. Focus on the small steps that will take you where you want to go next. Every once in a while look back at what you have done, you may see a Grand Canyon or Hoover Dam behind you. Imagine that. Look what you did by focusing on the small steps.