Take A Little Now, Avoid More Later

Take A Little Now, Avoid More Later

by Jay Jay Speaks

February 24, 2012

I recently had to go to the dentist for my semi-annual check-up. You know the appointment I’m talking about, the one where they lady smiles at you until you lie back in the torture chair and she begins to scrap and pick at your teeth, and then she uses the “pain-string” in between your teeth to get all the grime, gunk and gilk (yeah just made that word up!). When she asked if there were any new developments with my dental health I told her that I notice there was a crack or chip in one of my back teeth. Well long story short, I had to come back and actually see the dentist to have the crack repaired.

While laying back in the bigger torture chamber chair I started to think about the big Novocain needle that would be injected into my gums to numb the area so the dentist could go to work.  Dr. Death comes in with the needle and I closed my eyes so neither he nor his assistant would see a grown man begin to cry, mostly from anticipating the sharp, sticking pain that was coming.

Once the dentist started drilling, scraping, poking, and prodding I started thinking, how painful this procedure would have been without the face numbing Novocain. Now let’s not fool ourselves, even with the Novocain, I could still feel some pain or discomfort but it was evident to me that I was not getting the full brunt of the pain that comes with someone sticking metal instruments inside of your tooth. This realization made me say “THANK YOU LORD” for pain-killers, anesthesia, and other numbing agents. There are times in life when, much like going to the dentist for oral surgery, a root canal, addition of a crown or other corrective procedures, we are going to have to go through pain and discomfort.

I think there are times when we “lose our heart” or passion for things or people. Perhaps this loss is the Novocain we need to get through that difficult time or process. I’m thinking about pain-killers such as the temporary break-ups we encounter before the relationship is finally over. Or the job unhappiness and dissatisfaction we often have before we finally make the decision to leave or in some cases get let go. Is it not the disconnect that begins to happen before the “BIG EVENT” that takes the sting out before the thing happens? This is not to discount situations where you are happily employed or married and bad news comes out of nowhere, but often there are always little needle pricks that are begin to deaden our feelings towards that person, that job or that situation before the big surprise happens. People will often say, "I knew something was going to happen or I don’t feel that bad, because I hated that job/that place anyway. On a larger scale this may not work for everyone but I have to say thank you for the Novocain of life that has taken some of the sting out of relationships that were going to fall apart anyway, took my passion out of a job before I left or even the big losses that numbed me to even larger life setbacks.

Life will also bring us occasions where we must suffer a little pain now to avoid a lot of pain later. Think about it. If you didn’t get that little bit of discomfort in your teeth from hot or cold sensations, many of us would never go to the dentist. If we ignore that cavity pain, what should have been a small inconvenience becomes a rotten tooth in need of extraction (which leaves a hole) or a root canal (which leads to much more pain and expense). How many times in life have small pains or inconveniences been there to get our attention before situations got worse? How many times have you ignored those little warning signs and how many times have you walked right past those yellow flags that were cautioning you to slow down? When we ignore the little pings and pains they often grow or deteriorate into devastating health, emotional, financial or spiritual issues, don’t they?

The next time you go to the dentist and need a shot of Novocain, make sure you say THANK YOU to your dentist before she/he begins. Like my parents used to tell me before I was issues corporal punishment, “I’m doing this for your own good.

Thanks Mark Freeman, D.D.S. and thank you Mom and Pop.