But to be honest, I’m not sure I would have been able to handle the above-mentioned negativity and obstacles at age 25 (when I began practicing dentistry) that would have been thrown at me if I had pursued a more “unstable” career. This is not to say that transitioning from dental school to private practice was easy… far from it. Working in a 2-dentist private practice for all those years helped me to grow and mature in ways I may not have done otherwise. And because of that, I am able to enjoy what I am doing now.

I never made a ton of money in my years of practicing dentistry. But I always felt that there was a sense of structure, security, and “being grounded”, to a certain extent. That was worth much more than any paycheck. And that probably affected me — in a positive way — more than I ever realized… especially when I was first starting out.

I don’t regret leaving dentistry one bit. But at the same time, I don’t regret ever BEING a dentist. When I did leave the profession, I knew the time was right. I kind of regard my years of being a practicing dentist — as well as the time I’ve put into my current career/pursuits — as just being different phases of my life… each a particular facet of my journey, building upon each other in the creation of my life story.