The Appreciation of Happiness

As we listen to talk radio, read the newspapers, browse the Internet or watch the 24/7 news cycle, it is very apparent that a large majority of our population is unhappy with the current political situation. I have no solution to offer, and would not even attempt to write a blog about politics. What I do want to write about is happiness.

According to a recent article from US News and World Report, out of the 100 best jobs in America, orthodontists ranked first and general dentists ranked second! So there should be a lot of reasons to be happy if you are lucky enough to be a dentist these days:

• You are self-employed. How nice to be able to control your own destiny and realize that you have job security.

• You set your own work schedule. Obviously we are paid on what we produce, so many of us put in long hours. But that is a choice that we make.

•You can dramatically improve the lives of so many people with the ever increasing availability of advanced reconstructive dental treatments.

•You can create beautiful smiles. In so many situations, this is a transformative and life altering event for the aesthetically challenged patient.

•As a dentist you enjoy a position of respect in your community.

• With careful planning, your long term financial security should rarely be an issue.

Of course it has taken a lot of hard work and time and effort, and study, and years of on-going and continuous training to get to where you are today. Not to mention the substantial financial investment. So you should be justifiably proud of your success and accomplishment.

But practicing dentistry can be stressful, often exhausting, and we all know how hard it is to please everybody. Just remember that when you are at that point of feeling sorry for yourself – and we all have been there – just try to realize – compared to so many others in our society – how truly lucky we are – and how happy we should be in our chosen profession.