As a speaker, facilitator, consultant, I am very much a public person. My stock in trade is talking before others - sometimes thousands. Can't do that today. As I told the sales clerk when I forced myself to go into the store, "Please forgive me. I've been in an accident." What I didn't say is that I "accidentally" stayed at the beach in So. Florida as a teenager with no sun screen. No such thing in the 1960s. At this moment my face is covered with scabs, looking like I peeled asphalt in a biking accident. Liquid nitrogen from the dermatologist should burn off the akinit keratosis (precancerous sun damage.) What I didn't say is that I "accidentally" inherited my parents' gene for gum recession. Two days ago, the oral surgeon cut skin from the roof of my mouth and grafted it to the places where the gum is reduced. I head back to see him today as my face and lips are now swollen out of proportion, my eye droops, and it feels like a liver clot has formed on one of my gums. TMI? Probably. But it really has my head spinning. For the first time, I am VERY grateful that I have no work until later. Not only do I look frightening, but I also can't speak clearly with the swelling. Thus - even podcasts are out of the question. I had to cancel one scheduled for today! Resilient people seek backup plans. I know that. I teach that. And I don't have one - yet. But I am working on it. I think of this as my wake-up call. What would you do?
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