Anyways.

The reason I go to the dentist is to get my teeth cleaned and the dentist ALSO gets rid of the junk in between my teeth. In other words, I’m a bad flosser. My friend said something funny, though, about that.

He said something like, “I haven’t been to the dentist in over a year, and normally I am horrible about flossing. But lately, I’ve been flossing more consistently than ever now that it’s been so long since I’ve been.” It’s like he had been scared into flossing. He had been using the dentist as a crutch. I suspect I’m the same way. Because I go to the dentist regularly, I get the idea that “oh, the dentist will get that, I don’t need to floss quite as much.” Well that’s not true, I’m supposed to floss regularly, not once a week.

Now, this isn’t a post suggesting to stop going to the dentist, but my friend’s comment is useful. Are there things in your life that you use as crutches in lieu of doing things that you should be doing anyway? I know that I have a couple of “dentists” that take the place of me getting better at “flossing.”