Comfortable In My Skin
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010
by Edwina Frazier
Partners In Success
Well, it finally happened. Everybody has that ONE thing that they hope will never happen to them in public. That one thing that would make you want to crawl into the nearest hole and pull it in after you. That ONE THING. What's yours?
I'll give you a second to think about it.
I have several but, right up there at the top, sharing space with a couple of other things I dare not mention in this article, was having to teach a class without my teeth. Yeah, yeah... I wear a partial plate. Yeah, I know you thought those pearlie whites were mine. Well most of them still are but I have three missing front teeth that makes speaking a bit challenging when I don't have my teeth in. Can we say big time LISP?!!! Not to mention I also look like a refugee from Hee Haw.
It was the day before my 50th birthday. The BIG day. The big 5-0. The day I'd been preparing for and getting geeked about with my 50 Firsts Project. I took my partial plate out to eat dinner and carefully wrapped them in a damp napkin and put them on the shelf above the sink. I thought they'd be safe there.
I thought wrong.
My daughter, in an industrious moment, decided to clean the shelf! Why do kids get motivated to do things at the wrong time? Normally, I'm the only one who'd take the time to go the extra mile and clean the shelf, but that day, she decided to take her cleaning skills to a new level. So, you know it - she grabs the napkin and throws it in the trash! Ok, you're thinking why didn't you just go through the trash and get them out?
Remember I said she was in an industrious mood?
Well, she also took the trash to the dumpster. Oh Man! Maybe, just maybe no one else, in an apartment complex of 167 units had decided to take their trash out on a Sunday afternoon. We jumped in the car and did 90 to the dumpster near the back of the property. Yeah, I would have crawled through the dumpster without gloves or protective clothing but someone else had beat me to the punch. It was the weekend after New Year's. I guess I lot of people had gotten the cleaning bug and decided to take field trips to the dumpster because in that short amount of time it was filled to the top with boxes, bags and broken pieces of furniture.
Can we say the teeth were history?
I probably would have been ok - nothing a quick trip to the dentist wouldn't have been able to fix except I was scheduled to teach a corporate training the next day. How could I stand before a class of managers with any credibility looking like a Beverly Hill Billy? I didn't know which was worst - teaching toothless or calling my boss and attempting to explain why I wouldn't be able to to do my class the next day. Oh, and by the way, you will have to fly somebody in overnight to teach for me cause... I'm not trying to look stupid!
Well, the show must go on!
I got up the next day, took extra time with my hair and make up,smiled at myself in the mirror - a big ole jack-o-lantern grin - grabbed my purse and strutted out the door. I was going to be fabulous! I made up my mind this was not going to change who I was. I am an excellent trainer and I wasn't going to let this "little" dental mishap get in the way of giving those managers what they came to get - a week of great learning! In the process, I learned that I could be very comfortable in my own skin. Teaching for a week without teeth was a very mentally and emotionally liberating exercise in recognizing the comfort level I could have even when when things didn't work out the way I would have preferred. Oh and guess what? Midweek, a cold sore erupted. So now I'm flashing gums and a blister... not cute! But... I was ok.
Did I tell you my boss showed up from Raleigh for a surprise visit? Uh huh..and the Regional Director came by. Two District Managers decided to visit and the Senior Recruiter.
Hmmm... was this a conspiracy?
I took it all in stride and gave it my best. Even without the excellent evaluations I received at the end of the week, I knew I'd nailed it but even more than that... I discovered that I am so much more than this outer wrapping - the really good stuff comes out when I'm faced with a challenge. Bring it on!
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)what a hoot, enjoyed your article very much and your sense of humor in writing this! Marijo
Yes, we all have those 'moments', and yes, some of them we'll never share.
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