Priceless – Give & Take
Oh, if only our teeth paid us money like we so wistfully believed as children, then we could happily let go of each one as they let go of us. But, while living in the real world one will find life is not so easily handled as the fairytale belief we held onto in our childhood. Without the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Santa Claus to magically lull us into their wonderland of plenty, we fall hard on the pavement of life when we do not understand the principle of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
When thinking of this saying, you may understand it to teach about revenge and getting even with others. However, I would like you to look at it from a different angle. Instead, I want you to think about this statement with the concept of getting even with yourself. How on earth can we get even with ourselves, you ask? Well, it really is rather an easy concept when you understand that everything has its price and nothing is free.
Yesterday I had a rather painful experience at the dentist’s office. Yes, I had a cavity, but only one. Not too bad you would think, unless you were the one standing on the patient’s side of the counter discussing with the receptionist that the one little cavity is attached to the one little tooth holding one little side of a custom-made bridge. “OUCH!!!! It is going to cost me how much? What? Because the insurance company won’t cover another bridge until spring of next year?” I could hardly believe that they wanted payment of, two-thousand-plus dollars of hard-earned cash just to repair the damage, or should I say, “fallout” of one little cavity.
A temporary repair was done, for now, to hold off from the financial bomb that had almost blown up in my face (or rather, my lower-left cheek.) So, as I think about the statement that “nothing in life is free,” I accept the concept and all the responsibility that comes with it as I tie it to “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
Responsibility to self is the key statement here. We are all given one body, and being caretakers over it we, hopefully, learn that the price paid to care for it is much less than the bill we will receive once we neglect our obligations as that caretaker. What would it have cost me in extra dental floss if I had chosen to floss the backside of that molar more often than I did? I can tell you the price difference has no comparison. So, what price do you put on each tooth, that clustered together creates your smile you greet the world with? Priceless, I would hope!
Yes, nothing in life is free except free agency (and that too can be taken if you abuse it). Freedom to choose is a basic truth that brings lessons learned, not just in our childhood but also throughout our entire journey. It is our use of that free agency in caring for ourselves that will imprison us to an unhealthy existence or free us from those chains. Of course, not all health issues are self-imposed. But, if we have problems with our body it is up to us to find the best solution in fixing or managing it, and do it! We no longer are living in that fairytale wonderland of abundance where when something is knocked out it will magically be replaced. So, if the fight you have chosen is with yourself don’t be surprised that the bruised and black eye you refused to protect and block no longer allows you to see clearly. Also, your smile may not be as grand if careless ways have caused you to give up a small part of it. I guess sometimes life really does give up an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
In Other’s Words:
“A healthy body is a guest chamber for the soul: a sick body is a prison.”
~Francis Bacon~