I like a sticker

This post starts with a couple of confessions. Firstly, I'm end to end Apple when it comes to technology...... almost. I don't do 'Siri' or Apple Intelligence but the realtime translation that turns my Airpod Pros into a babel fish is very very tempting. And I don't do Apple Watch. Secondly, I love a sticker and my Macbook is plastered with them.

I particularly like the artwork of a lady called Tanya who has a shop on Etsy called SeeknRevel. I've put a link at the end of the post if you'd like to check it out. The one that takes pride of place and is relevant to this post is this cool trippy one that reminds me every day that life is all about balance.

I've had what many people would consider a sh1te week, that, with hindsight, could have been avoided. I'm going to share it with you in hopefully a drama-free way, because it illustrates everything that this blog is about - how our thinking shapes our experience.

The Doctor's teeth

The first time I met my good friend Dr. Andy Cope, he told me the story of how he made gratitude his default attitude. In addition to being grateful for things that had happened, he expressed gratitude for things that hadn't happened. He used to be grateful every day when he woke up without toothache. It still makes me smile when I think about it and is a standard part of my Art of Brilliance gratitude talk. Well, the events of this week brought his simple but brilliant little gratitude hack to the front of my mind.

My week went something like this:

  • Monday: I had a root canal on a big tooth at the back. It had been attempted before and failed and I'd had an abscess for maybe 5 years that wasn't causing me pain, but it was time to sort it out. Apart from the injection there was no pain at all and even though he was in there for an hour, I was relaxed and could have gone to sleep. It was the best dentist experience I have ever had. I was expecting pain later but all was good. I had an OK nights sleep.
  • Tuesday: The pain started. It wasn't the tooth but rather the infection getting the hump with me for sorting the tooth. We were getting divorced with no warning and it wasn't happy. I was feeling under the weather but paracetomol took the edge off. It got worse overnight so didn't sleep well.
  • Wednesday: Things kicked up a few notches, pain-wise. Paracetomol took the edge off for 90 mins and I was watching the clock for my next fix. I tried a cool little NLP trick that normally disassociates you from pain but it didn't touch it. Popped to the pharmacy and got something stronger, some numbing gel and dug out some oil of cloves. Eased things a bit but the pain was constant and I felt like sh1t. Awful nights sleep.
  • Thursday: Things improved. The abscess must have burst during the night so the pressure was off the tooth, but I'd gone half-chipmunk with the right side of my face swollen. Still painful but back to paracetomol. Another bad nights sleep.
  • Friday: Popped to see the dentist and he gave me some antibiotics. They kicked in almost immediately. Still swollen but feeling loads better. The infection had given up. I'd won 😄 Had a great nights sleep.