01/05/2026
And I managed it without alllllll the anxiety. š®
Iāve had actual nightmares for years about my teeth crumbling in my mouth and falling out.
Iām hanging out doing my thing and my teeth just fall out of my mouth.
IRL Iāve learned to take very good care of my teeth after a root canal 12 years ago. I was so depressed in my mid 20ās I didnāt do a lot of flossing and got a bad cavity that led to a root cancel and crown.
Since then, Iāve been on it. But I went to the dentist for a cleaning and she was like, āOMG! Somehow in the last six months you got this huge cavity beneath your crown. Weāre going to have to extract the tooth.ā
I was so confused until I remembered it was the same tooth from those years ago that Iāve continued having problems with.
A week later waiting for the extraction in a few weeks, eating some almond roca, the tooth just dropped out my mouth. IT FELL RIGHT OUT! š®
My nightmare. One of my literal worst nightmares just happened.
But the difference wasā¦it was fine.
Like most nightmares, the nightmare was worse than the reality. The anxiety of what that experience would be like was different than the reality.
I laughed. The worst I imagined had just happened.
Now I have the incredible privilege of being able to get and pay for an implant, have access to a wonderful and highly educated dentist ( if youāre in Eugene, OR)ā¦
But the point isā¦I thought the worst would happen a certain way and it didnāt. I was OK. It was OK.
There were parts of it to deal withā¦eating soft foods, managing a vacation with stitches in my mouthā¦but it was totally fine.
This is my experience with anxiety, and anticipation, and dread, and imagining, and predicting over and over and over.
The thing happens, the person dies, I start the business, I say the dumb thingā¦and itās fine.
Are there feelings? Yes!
Things to deal with? Yes!
But itās OK. And itās always so clear that my idea about it was way worse than the reality.
I want you to look for this too.
How often do you think the worst and itās not that bad?
How often do you predict an awful outcome and itās pretty fine?
How often do you worry for days, weeks, years and itās OK?
