Oh, pick me! Pick me!

Lots going on at the Gammichia house.

Friday night was Noah's first soccer game.
This is a U-5 league. So the game is a real hoot. It was at 5:30pm and it was a real scorcher.
Noah scored 2 goals. I was so proud.

Saturday I had my run. I was up and Adam at 3:20 and I ran 22 miles. Since my foot deal last Monday I have not run. I have been icing it all week and taking quite a bit of Ibuprofen.
I had not even tested it. So when I got to the run at about 3:50 I gave it about 40 yards to see how it was going to go.
The problem is I only have about 6 weeks to the marathon and this was one of the last long run training days. I run with a group and I wasn't about to take it easy this week and do the 22 on my own next week. So it was kind of, do or die.
I was going to do it whether it was killing me or not. Turns out it was not that bad.
So you are saying OMG why are you running so early. Well two reasons. 1) so we are not ruining the whole day and 2) to avoid the sun.
Problem was it was 78 degrees at 3:40am. Ouch, that is warm.
I am pretty excited about running in this marathon (The Marine Corps Marathon).
It is in Washington DC and you run all through the monuments and by the Capitol Building, the Smithsonian and end up running through Arlington Cemetery and finish at the WWII memorial.
It is going to be great. Remember how emotional I was at Disney Marathon, imagine what is going to be like seeing all this stuff. And I am a pretty patriotic guy as it is.

I started a new book this week. It is called The Year of Living Biblically (One mans humble quest to follow the Bible as literally as possible). This is not a Christian book. It is about a Jewish man (who got a book deal) who decides to read the Bible and write down all the rules in it. Something like 750 of them. And for one year try to live by the law.
It is labeled "Humor" in the back of the book.
I will let you know.

I watched Glory Road with the family this weekend. And I started watching Pride and Prejudice.

Last thing, I weighed in at 192 this afternoon. I am so close. But I want to do it right. I want to lose the weight and keep it off. I want it to be a life change. But if I weigh in at 190 in the morning and I weigh myself at night at and I am 195, I feel defeated.
So the gradual thing, I think is good.
I don't think the other guy is close or he would of told me.
I am hoping.

Okay, today's topic.
I have a dental supply rep. He comes to my office about once every two weeks. He knows what kind of guy I am. I mean we have never talked about spirituality but... I have taken him to a Gator Basketball game. I like him and I think he likes me. I don't know if you can call him just a rep. When the big meeting is coming up we talk about getting together and having a beer. When I get to the meeting I will search him out or call him on the phone to see if he can do it.
I would say he has a vested interest in our office but I still think he likes us (or me).

I was talking to him at the office (We talk about other dentists. We talk about philosophy. We talk about our office. We talk about certain products. We talk about speakers. Sports and family).
Somehow we got on the topic of teeth. We started talking about his wife and how she got some dental work done at so and so office.
Now lets take a step back. He has always, to the best of my knowledge, gone to this Taj Mahal of an office. I went and looked at this office once. It was beautiful. It has 3 dentist, an orthodontist and a periodontist all in the same office (not building). Under the direction of this one dentist. This guy runs three chairs with his eyes closed.
I don't run an office like this but, to each his own.
So when my rep said he went there I could understand. (What I mean is...to a rep this guy must be his biggest account. He is buying three times the supplies anyone else is so he must be good...I get that.
Back to the story...
When he was talking about his wife and that she was getting dental work done, he told me the dentist that she went to.
It was not the Taj Mahal guy.
It didn't matter to me who it was because it wasn't me.
I could understand if she went to the Frank Spear of Orlando. I could understand if he took her to the Pankey Master of Orlando. But it wasn't.
It was just regular ole dentist.

Now you must start to think this guy Gammichia has some big head.
Of all the dentists out there he wants his rep to pick him.
The short answer is YES.
There are so many things that could have gone on in his mind to send his wife to this guy. They may hang out together. This other dentist is a super nice guy (which he is).
The office could be down the street from his house.
On and on...
But to me, all I know is it wasn't me.

I want, in all the things I do, to be great.
I want in all my conversations about dentistry to exude passion for teeth.
I want when people think of me they think that guy is weird about teeth. I want them to say, "I want to love my job like Gammichia loves teeth."

From what I gathered his wife had 6 veneers done.
Then my rep say, "This guy gave my wife a 20% discount"
You know what...I would have done it for less. And it is not to undercut the other guy it is more like an honor to work on friend's wives.

Do you know what I am saying?

I want people to know me and love me.
I want them to know my heart. I want them to see my passion and recognize my ability. I want them to want what I have to offer. I want him to know that I would rather give up practicing than to let them leave my office not thrilled with my product.
It is not about the money.
Its about all the other stuff.

I have pictures of my work all over the office. I have before and after books that have dentistry that I think is Hmm, hmm good.
Never mind that my office is 20 miles from their house.
He did not pick me.

I could say all the things to make myself feel better like...I am a better dentist than that guy. I am for sure more passionate than he is. I would say I would have done it for less money than him. That really isn't the issue.

As I am writing this I keep thinking about the playground in elementary school. When a couple of captain's picked teams. Do you remember this time?
I don't really know how this effected me...I think it effects all of us. I was never the greatest player but I wasn't the worst. But I was well liked.
So it was personal when someone didn't pick me. Even though I might not of been the best kickball player.

So what is it? Is it that I have this competitive thing going on? I don't think so, because I really am not that competitive.
Is it okay that I want to be the best? Is it okay to want everyone to like me and want what I have to offer?
Is it okay to think I am pretty good at what I do and feel insulted when someone doesn't pick me?
Is there any psychiatry residence looking for someone to do a thesis on?
I am available.

This is getting too long,
I will talk to you on Wednesday,
john