There are 2 types of people in this world: those that talk the talk, and those that walk the talk. I’ve met a lot of both types in my life, and I’d be oversimplifying things if I said each person is entirely one or the other. There certainly were times in my life when I’ve just talked and taken no action to back the bull$#!+ that I was spouting. Heck, I could be doing it right now and don’t even know it! And I’m sure there were other times when my actions were right in line with my values and […]
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Once I found my dream job, I eagerly threw myself into my work. I had so much new stuff to learn, and so much to unlearn. I had a mentor right there on the spot, and he spent hours teaching me what he knew. He filled my head with new ideas and thoughts of a bright future and all of the great things we could do for people. He urged that I follow in his footsteps and go to The Pankey Institute. Attending would give me a much better understanding of all he was teaching me. So I went, and […]
As I mentioned last week, work stress really started taking its toll on me. For the first few years, I was distracted by friends, a new lifestyle, and dating. Back in dental school, most of my friends were guys. They often shared funny dating stories and jokes about how every 28 year-old woman wanted to get married. They were fine dating 27 year-old gals, but those 28 year-olds were on a mission, and these guys wanted no part in it. I laughed right along with them and made fun of how desperate these women seemed. That was never going to […]
As dentistry and I started to spend all of our time together, I was forced to face our compatibility issues. As the relationship grew, more red flags appeared. The days of leaving work at work were growing more sparse. The daily stresses were following me home and keeping me up at night. I was suddenly investing as much time in worrying about my work as I invested in studying when I was in school. Payday became the best day of the month, as it was my way of consoling myself over the realization that maybe I wasn’t in love. It […]
I recently came across a great post written about dental humor and the internet. Why do I think it was great? Well, because it was about me, of course! No really, while that’s partially true, I wanted to thank The Curious Dentist for what he had to say. The article wasn’t entirely about me, but was mostly about dental humor and its viral nature these days. Instead of regurgitating what he said, I’ll let you see for yourself.
It was July 17, 2001: the day we officially met for the first time. It was our first real date and the day my budding romance with dentistry began. Everything was new and exciting. There was no time to notice any red flags because I was too taken by the potential of how amazing my new life would be. Our 10-year relationship was off to a great start, and I looked forward to the long life we would share together. During the initial phase of our courtship, dentistry showered me with a lot of wonderful gifts and unexpected attention. Life […]
It was just another day in dental school. Another test in the big lecture hall where we had most of our classes. Total silence. Then, like a balloon popping, it burst out of nowhere. A very loud fart. Then total silence again. I flinched in my seat and stiffened up, visibly uncomfortable. “Don’t look around,” I thought to myself. “This is way too humiliating.”
I was surprised to find myself struggling to write this post about hating dental school. I know I hated a lot about it when I was there. When I sat down to write the last post, I found myself sifting through old photos and yearbooks, laughing, and feeling warm fuzzies. It was easy to write about what I loved. So I couldn’t wait to write about how much I hated it, thinking I would come up with some really rich material. But when I sat down to write it, the fire wasn’t there, and it was much harder than I […]
It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for… it’s list time again! As I reflect on my journey in and out of dentistry, I am compelled to go back to the beginning: DENTAL SCHOOL. Since my last list was all about the hate, I need some balance. So for today, it’s all about the love. 10 Reasons I Loved Dental School
It’s easy to look back on the past and see things we didn’t notice at the time. With so much wisdom we feel qualified to judge ourselves and challenge why we made certain choices– as if we should have known better. So I have to ask: is hindsight always 20/20? Are we really seeing more clearly, or is it just a way we skew things to prove to ourselves that we are smarter than we were before; as if that will justify any mistakes we may have made? I don’t know the answer, but I suddenly feel pretty qualified to […]