Circumstances are Bigger than You.

Circumstances are Bigger than You.

I had a cracked tooth over the weekend while chewing on something.

What I was chewing on was not hard, but I guess the tooth, which already had an old implant, was primed to crack at that point, and a tiny fragment of the shell of a walnut became the nimitt ( incidental reason ) for this to happen.

I just had visited the dentist a few days back for other dental work, but this happened unexpectedly.

My “old me” would have rebelled and complained about the incident and the following inconvenience.

But I stayed calm and did not react, accepting and witnessing this as just another life event.

My tooth was painful.

I called the dentist’s office on Monday, and they took me right away on Tuesday morning.

I went there.

The staff at the office were very courteous, accommodating, and compassionate for what I was going through.

The dentist heard my story through the girls and confirmed it again with me.

She said, “ Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. You were just here recently, and now you must go through this.”

I stayed calm, and somehow words came out of me,” No, don’t feel sorry. Sufferings are a welcome part of my life. They show the reality of life.

They make me realize that life is a combination of both good times and bad times. I don’t reject anything in life. This keeps me humble. “

She agreed and proceeded with her exam.

The final diagnosis was that I had a cracked root of the tooth, which already had an implant; it needed significant work.

The next step was to see the front desk and pay the major tooth extraction and implant bill.

Again, my “old me” would have mentally rebelled against the cost.

But I stayed calm, paid the bill, and waited for the main dentist to arrive, who would do the procedure.

He came, evaluated the whole thing again, and said,” Yes, Doc, we will be able to squeeze you in for the whole thing right now. “

I was happy, as this would save me another trip.

Multiple X-rays, CT scans, etc, were done methodically.

He started working on me, along with his dental assistant.

He worked diligently.

While he was working, I appreciated his hard work, professionalism, and the care he was giving to my problem.

The tooth was small and required a lot of bending and use of multiple instruments, which the dental assistant provided efficiently.

All this time, I stayed calm, witnessing the whole experience.

As I was not in a rejecting mood, I had time to ponder on the fact how much hard work the dentist must have put in to become a dentist, and also develop real skill of doing this kind of procedure by real experience with other patients.

And with all that background of the past, he was doing this procedure in this particular present moment.

The same applies to the dental assistant.

Both worked well in unison.

So, this moment was an accumulative result of so many past events; I had nothing to do with them, and yet I was benefiting from them.

I also recognized and remained aware of the involved cost of x-rays, CT scans, bone graft material, upkeep of sterilized instruments, etc., and even the cost of owning/renting the office space, all of which easily justified the procedure’s price tag.

All this was arising from my calm, witnessing state.

After it was done, I thanked the dentist for taking me in immediately at such short notice and left.

Circumstances happen in life, whether we want them or not.

Hating them, resisting them, trying to walk away from them, blaming others for them, etc., are products of our Ego.

Ego keeps you “small”, focused only on yourself.

An egoless state leads to expansion.

Only when the ego is no longer, can you realize that circumstances are a lot bigger than us because the ego is created by us and circumstances by the divine.