There's nothing wrong with my teeth

on the fall out following a trip to the dentist.

A visit to the dentist:

Oh dear!  This morning saw a visit to the dentist, and the possibility ( as well as the expense) of a new crown.  I promise you I am not a happy bunny, having booked in for a treatment plan running well into October.

My thoughts turn to a little TLC to make up for the drain on my resources, not to mention the discomfort and the hamster cheeks yet to come reminding me of Marlon Brando in The Godfather!. However, my spirit revives just a tad when I remember the beautiful little coffee shop and bakery in the small shopping precinct close by.  When it comes to TLC of course food, typically chocolate and cake, lots of cake, top the list of must haves.

All change:

The first thing I notice is a brand new sign over the doorway; rich and bold lettering standing out from a dark yet elegant background proclaiming 'this is a centre of bread-making and cake-making excellent, folks! Come on in!'

My first step over the threshold tells me that the whole place has had a make-over.  Thick creamy walls, stripped right back to the brickwork and pure white circular tables surrounded by comfy bucket chairs bid me enter.  Opposite, a series of colourful posters on a gleaming tiled background now invite me to take the next step, 'Come eat!'  A gateau screams for attention; smeared with oodles of butter-cream icing and hundreds and thousands spilling over the the top got me drooling, yes drooling!  One slice has already been cut out of said gateau revealing bright bands of glorious colour; shades of green, yellow and all shades of the rainbow, inviting me yet again, 'Come eat' yet again!  On a separate poster, pots of fresh summer fruits hustle for my attention;  strawberries, summer berries, kiwifruit and melon piled tantalisingly into pristine plastic pots, filling each container to capacity. Yummy cheese straws straight from a pipping hot oven complete the bill, along side kids biscuits colourfully daubed with a series of cartoon characters to delight youngsters of all ages.  ('Which piece shall I bite off first?')

The counter itself brims full with an assortment of hot and cold goodies from the good old British staples of pie, sausage and sausage rolls to sandwich fillings for the more health conscious. And finally, thank goodness and further away from me, almost (yes almost) out of harms way came the cakes.  Those cakes, wow those cakes laid out in individual glory.

Having ordered my salad sandwich (yes that's right, I emphasise SALAD sandwich) I sat back watching as crowd after crowd of people snaked their way into the shop to buy up some goodies before making their way home.

Saying Yes to Life:

Life comes in all shapes and sizes.  In fact we have no other choice than to accept the rough with the smooth.  The dentist is definitely situated right at the rough end of the nasty spectrum, so I needed some of the smooth to balance things out did I not? And wasn't this bakers shop just heaven sent in my time of great need?

As human beings, we all try to run away from the rough don't we?  In the end, however, we all have to face up to the many curve balls life does indeed chuck at us. On that note, you might be forgiven for thinking I then went back for seconds and even thirds to drown my toothy sorrows, but I didn't.  You might think that my decision to behave and not overindulge was at least in part dictated by the fact that this evening I am going to my slimming club weigh in and you'd be right of course. However....there is another and oft over looked piece to the equation Spirit. And its the Spirit rather than the stuffing that helps us take the rough with the smooth and to get back on track

Savouring Life:

I've discovered there are two ways in which I can indulge my passion for food; to savour each morsel and to make every bite count or to pig out and binge myself into a bloated oblivion.  The later just compounds the problem.  The former helps you find your way through, connecting you all the way back to the very essence of your being, your Spirit!  It is the Spirit rather than the stuffing that's going to make all the difference.

Eaten sensibly, food gives you the physical strength and determination to keep on keeping on. And the corresponding  riot of textures, colours shapes and sizes we see on our plates, - the things that get our taste buds soaring, open the doorway to imagination, inspiration and a lust for life and living.  We rediscover our Spirit in the savouring of each and every moment. Being in the moment helps us move beyond the 'oh lord I am just going have to grin and bare those grim, grim dentures- negative mind set - isn't my cup always more than half empty' kind of mentality back to the fact that my glass is more than half full and is going to get better and better.  In short it's the Spirit that helps me see there are infinite other possibilities available and not just the one where I slurp through the rest of my life wearing ill fitting dentures whilst dining on sloppy bread and milk.

We are all meant to 'Say Yes to Life' as I said earlier, and to take the rough with the smooth. The trick is not to be so down trodden by life that we close the door to some of her miracles. Our taste buds are not the only form of sensing we have.  We have sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.. our access to Spirit. Put them all together and you have a very special cocktail, a fiesta of colour, textures and tastes that gets your imagination flowing and puts you back in touch with your Spirit.  Food isn't meant to deaden us, its meant to inspire us and encourage us to help us see the bigger picture.

I still have my date with the dentist to face, but the dentures no longer loom large.  There are other options, and my time out in the bakers shop helped me to remember this, not my numbing out with all the glorious food on offer, but by savouring all the sites and sounds on offer, from the cream coated walls, to the posters, the fine array of food on offer behind the counter and the friendly staff smiles. This  lovely shop is so full of character and well....the essence of life.....and it is that essence of life or Spirit that is truly our inspiration even when life does throw a curve ball.