Sunny Days
hese long, sunny days really ARE good for the soul. It’s not difficult to be cheerful and upbeat when the longed for solar rays are working their magic … or so one would imagine. HOWEVER, when you’ve been told “ooh, it’s too nice a day to be cooped up inside working – it’s beautiful out” for the fourteenth time that day, somehow the prospect of smiling benevolently and treading gently becomes an increasingly difficult task. Thank you, I know the sun is shining upon all in the Empire except me, and thank you, I know it’s too nice a day to be cooped up inside working, but in reality I don’t really have a choice!
And you know what? I DON’T MIND. Let me rephrase that – for the most part I don’t mind. For I am one of those rare beasts, a person who enjoys their job. No, actually, I am a person who LOVES her job. All too often I’m asked by people, once they discover how it is I earn my crust (see previous blog!!), “how on earth can you do THAT?”!!! To which my response is “what’s not to like or enjoy?”
When I was a wee young thing, one of the great delights – and one which was evidence of having behaved well enough in the stint leading up to, and inevitably including a long hot session at Mass – was the purchase for me of a “Lucky Packet”. Oh, the sheer joy and delight when opening said “prize” to discover what manner of sweetie heaven, sticker fun and small plastic toy rapture were contained within!
For me, with each new patient I see, and let’s face it, at some stage every patient I see was once a new patient, I experience those same flutterings of excitement I did when opening my treasured Lucky Packet. Now it has to be said I don’t always get the same joyful reward once I have a look inside because some people’s mouths are just downright boring, but every now and then someone comes along for whom I can make a real difference and it’s on occasions such as these I am reminded exactly why I love what I do. In the greater scheme of things it’s unimportant because, to be quite honest, The Universe, Karma or whatever it is that takes us through this great journey of life, are not influenced hugely by the state of Mrs Jones’ dentition … or lack thereof. But to Mrs Jones it’s important, to me it’s important and I am the one privileged enough to be taking that particular journey with her and that’s enough for me. No, I don’t always get it right but then you can’t please everybody.
But you know what, how lucky am I to have the privilege of making a difference, however small, to somebody’s overall health and wellbeing? I don’t need to be out in the sun to feel great (although it does help every now and then) – a day in my surgery is good enough for me.