I lost part of myself a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a big surprise, I’d been expecting it for awhile. I went to the dentist to have a tooth extracted. Number 13, the back, upper left bicuspid. Along with the other seven bicuspids, it has served me well for a very long time. There’s a gap now, that my tongue’s constantly probing, searching for his old buddy but there’s only emptiness. A hole that can never be filled.
I brought Old #13 home and gave the little bicuspid a new home in my medicine bag. Perhaps I’ll put it under the pillow, when I decide what to barter for, with the Tooth Fairy. In the mean time, it’s a reminder, to stay focused on taking care of myself. It’s easy to lose focus of your health and the amazing gift that Great Spirit has blessed you with. The only body you’ll get, for your incredible journey here in the Great Wide World.
It was a choice, like eating right and exercise are choices. The truth is that like a lot of folks, I didn’t maintain my teeth very well when I was younger. Too much sugar when I was a kid, followed by alcohol, tobacco and coffee abuse; exacerbated by a pitiful maintenance schedule. It’s amazing that I’ve only lost one. I constantly preach to the grandkids, that the most important wisdom I can share, is; take care of your teeth – brush and floss, twice a day! Someone probably told me the same thing when I was a kid.
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” ― Aristotle
And once it’s gone, it’s gone. I’m not going to grow a new bicuspid. Everything decays, it’s the way of nature. With proper care and maintenance though, you can extend the useful life of a house, an automobile or most importantly – your amazingly beautiful body. Oddly a lot of folks take better care of their car and house than they do their body; as if they’re immortal, with complete disregard for the laws of nature.
I was pondering the conundrum this morning on the NordicTrak, doing the morning maintenance when out of the void, the lyrics to Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” flashed across my mind, followed by an epiphany. Folks get caught in the hedonistic, human desire for more, more, more. That timeless tendency towards decadence and greed. A bigger house, newer car, better job, more money, larger tits or a faster horse. Entranced by the chase they lose their authentic self.
And then whether they catch what they’re chasing or not, they begin to realize that none of it brings them the joy they were seeking. “They paved paradise. Put up a parking lot.” Traded their authentic self for a mediocre, unhealthy, unhappy, dull, depressed, dysfunctional, delusional, emotionally disconnected existence, on a hamster wheel, in a cage.
Don’t it always seem to go- That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone? – Joni Mitchell
Perhaps I got a little carried away with the adjectives but the point is; you only get one go at this. Over the years I’ve had a half dozen houses and a couple dozen cars but I have only had one body. I wonder sometimes why it took me so long to realize this simple truth. You can trade houses, trade cars, trade stocks and even trade wives, husbands and dogs. But you can’t trade your body, it’s the only one you’re going to get!
“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied.” ― Herophilus
You can’t trade it in when it breaks down! You have to finish the race with it. Doesn’t it make senses to maintain it with the utmost care, respect and love. Your body is a beautiful, natural paradise, that Great Spirit blessed you with to manifest your dream. Don’t pave it over. Don’t wait ’til it’s gone, to realize what you’ve got!
Listen to:
Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
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