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Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

I got a crown this week. Unfortunately, it’s not the pretty kind reserved for royalty. Although I’ve had my share of dental procedures, this was a new journey for me. My mouth is still a bit tender, but thankfully it’s improving a little each day.

Whenever I am blessed by modern medicine or medical technology I can’t help but think about life before these inventions. It’s not as if humans didn’t have a need, they just used other means to soothe or fix the problem. If it was bad enough, they simply removed the “problem.” By pulling the tooth or amputating the limb they stopped the infection from spreading. Ultimately the pain went away and they could carry on with their life.

Today, it’s almost seen as a last resort. We will try every possible solution under the sun before we take such drastic measures. I have found that I approach much of life with the same mentality. I must attack a problem from every angle before cutting my losses and calling it quits.

About 20 years ago I worked with a gal who would get debilitating pain after she enjoyed certain foods. She knew that any time she ate pizza, she’d be paying for it for days. The pain was so bad that in the end, it didn’t matter how delicious the meal was, she had to go in and get answers.

Once she was diagnosed, she no longer tolerated the two days of inevitable sickness following a slice of pepperoni and cheese. After years of putting up with it, she finally cut ties with all the foods that were hurting her. Drawing the line in the sand was hard at first, but the improvements to her health and day-to-day life were worth it.

I have maintained friendships, jobs and even hobbies for years that were causing more harm than good. I often know that something has run its course, and yet I still can’t let it go. There’s a whisper inside my mind that encourages me to give another chance or try again tomorrow. I don’t want to fail at a task or give up on someone. I believe in second chances. I offer them freely to others, because I have benefited from them myself. Forgiving and moving forward is the way I try to live my life.

I’m leaving out an important part of this equation though. In order for a second chance to work, a change has to be made. When my former co-worker wants to eat pizza, she needs to use a gluten-free crust. If a friendship is to be salvaged, apologies and uncomfortable conversations need to occur. And a crown needs to be put over my tooth if I hope to not have it pulled one day.

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams. Her column appears every Saturday.