Making a small difference?

I recently turned sixty five and I guess it's made me re-evaluate my life goals. When I was a young dentist I had a lot of goals. I wanted to be successful. To me that meant having a full time dental practice in Manhattan (Achieved in 1995). I wanted to own my own NYC Apartment (not achieved until 4 years ago!). I wanted to be a great dentist (I am  still working on that). One of my goals was to continually improve my dental skills and I can honestly say I am still improving! My dental practice has been for the most part a source of satisfaction since at the end of most days I can look back and clearly see the good I have accomplished. The results of dental procedures are pretty much a black and white matter and although there are days when I am not as  happy , most days things go pretty well.

I had some other goals that probably I won't ever achieve, but I will not bore the reader with my failures. Suffice to say that a number of my dreams have came to pass, while a few did not. I will share that I would still like to own a small house by the sea, but so far my on going financial responsibilities and global warming seem to conspire to make achieving this highly unlikely.

Lately my primary goal is to make a difference in other people's lives and I am doing this in my own small way through my dental practice, writing this blog, participating in dental study clubs and now teaching at NYU College of Dentistry. I find that helping others is quite satisfying and gives my life purpose. Making money seems like a hollow victory without  feeling that in doing so I am improving my little neck of the woods. After all you can't take it with you and when we are gone most of what we have accomplished will be in the memories of others .




from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2018/07/making-small-difference.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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