The Braces Come Off, And 3 Life Lessons

Today is a big day - my ordeal with braces as an adult is ended. Whooo! Just in time for my Bar Mitzvah! Oy, maybe not.

Thinking about it, this experience is actually a great microcosm for some life lessons. Here's what I mean:

Delayed gratification is a good thing. The basic trade I made was 6 months with braces and (in theory) many years of straight teeth. It's seem obvious now, this was an the right trad, but, even 6 months ago, I wasn't so sure. The lesson: in our world of instant gratification it's easy to write off choices that have pain now, and gain later (such as finishing that degree or sticking with that exercise program). But those choices can be among the best you can make.

People are amazingly adaptable. My mouth is among the last places I'd like to install sharp metal brackets and wires. And yes, the first few days with braces those metal objects tore things up. But, in a remarkably short amount of time my mouth adapted to the foreign objects there, and treated them like they belonged. The lesson: sometimes you can't wait for the perfect time to take on a challenge (say, start a business, get married or have kids) - you have to do it, and just adapt.

Change can happen so slowly you don't even know it's happening. I never actually saw my teeth move. Yet, I know they are straight now, and started off crooked. They had to have moved sometime along the way. The lesson: sometimes change just needs to happen slowly. As this experience shows though, there are two keys to making sure change is actually happening: (1) measure your progress and (2) work with someone who knows the path and has actually seen the change happen.

Here's the completed picture - I think I'll stick to my day job, instead of pursuing my teeth modeling career.