Lessons from the Tooth Fairy?

Toothless, a Disney Channel movie, I watched back during my years in elementary school, taught me a valuable lesson in how to live my life to the fullest. The impact was so profound, that as of today I feel compelled to share.

The movie revolves around the life of Catherine Lewis, a dentist, who lives an unromantic life. For years Catherine remains single, turning down potential suitors, as she’s afraid of losing any love she may acquire. 

On her way to visit her friend Mindy, one fateful day, Catherine attempts to cross the street unsuccessfully. Stepping out into traffic, she meets head-on with an oncoming car.

She dies instantly.

Upon reawaking, Catherine finds herself trapped in a place referred to as Limbo (a place between Heaven and Hell). Limbo, an alternate reality, serves as a place for second chance, for those who had not yet been deemed worthy of entry into Heaven upon immediate death.

It’s in Limbo that Catherine is required to perform community service. Unknowingly, Catherine signs up to work as the Tooth Fairy. During her first night, Catherine meets a young boy named Bobby. Bobby, who becomes somewhat frightened, can see the Tooth Fairy as she comes to visit him. 

It’s in this moment we learn that children with at least one baby tooth can see the Tooth Fairy, whereas those with none cannot. Losing all baby teeth symbolizes the child’s loss of innocence. 

During her time as the Tooth Fairy, Catherine develops love (not in a romantic way though) for Bobby and his close group of friends. However, part of her job requires her to avoid interaction with anyone else when working (In Limbo disobeying the rules could lead to Catherine being sent to Hell).

However, this disobeying of the rules contradicts the purpose of why Limbo exists. For Catherine, she was sent to Limbo because she had never loved anyone else besides those in her family. Love, the greatest gift of life, had gone unused and therefore Catherine had been deemed to have lived a life unwisely. 

For me, this concept hit home right away. 

I once believed love was the greatest part / experience of life. To this day I still do and I’m sure I always will.

As for Catherine, I believe she eventually saw the truth to this claim, as she continued to break the rules (talking with the kids whom she visited). Her constant rule breaking eventually led to her being sent to Hell. For this reason, and this reason alone, I fell in love with the movie. Weird right?

The reason was simply for how Catherine valued love. She valued it enough to give up her entry into Heaven. 

Oddly enough though, the next scene of the movie flashes to Catherine waking up to on the street at the scene of the accident, that at one time we were lead to believe was the cause of her death. For her, she had been given a second chance at life. 

Bobby, the child she initially met on the first night of the job, later comes into her dentist office for a routine checkup (a few days after the collision). It is in this moment that he recognizes Catherine, as they reunite, but as Catherine pulls out Bobby’s last baby tooth he can no longer remember Catherine or her job as the Tooth Fairy. 

For Catherine, she becomes saddened. However, the movie soon comes to an end on a positive note with Bobby’s dad arriving to pick his son up from his appointment. It is in this moment that we see a spark ignite between the two.

The movie ends with the dad inviting Catherine to join in grabbing a bite to eat with Bobby and him, leading us to believe that Catherine may indeed have found a potential new love. 

Losing Focus

I can only imagine what it must have been like for Josh Davis after his swim at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

His event: 200 Freestyle

His goal: Win a medal

…I first met Josh when I was no more than 12 years old. His story was touching. Already having won three gold medals as part of relay teams for Team USA, Josh was hungry to win his first individual medal.

Apart from the relays, Josh was only scheduled to swim one event. Therefore, he couldn’t afford to make a mistake. The 200 meter freestyle was his one shot to prove to himself and others he had what was necessary to finish on top of the podium.

To this day, Josh’s description of the race remains etched deep into my memory. Josh recalls the race in full, and in great detail, but for our sake I must skip to the tail end. Josh recounts looking over and noticing a group of guys, all in the mix for a top three finish. It was then, on the last lap that Josh dug deep and mustered out every last ounce of energy his body could give. He touched the wall, finishing the race, unaware of how he had placed. With a glance at the scoreboard, the results read…

Josh Davis – 4^th

His time, 1:46.73, was actually faster than the previous world record! The race was something else! Four guys had swum faster than ever before, a feat rarely seen in the sport of swimming.

Josh’s reaction? He cried.

Josh was disappointed to miss out on winning a medal.

My reaction? I thought the dude was a boss.

To me, the medal was irrelevant. What this guy did in the pool, during that race, was simply incredible. But for himself, he only saw it as failure.

I think at some point Josh lost focus on the good that came from that race, and instead focused on the bad. Truth be told, I can’t see a reason why he shouldn’t have held his head up high. But like most of us, we’ll never be satisfied unless we can have it all.

After all, it’s human nature.

I judged Josh in that moment, in a negative manner; as I told myself I’d never do the same.

I believed, and still currently do, that it’s important to focus on the good things in life, and recognize that even though we may want it all, having it all isn’t necessary in helping to find the happiness we are all so desperately searching for.

However, nearly ten years later I’d make the same mistake.

The situation may have been completely different, but my outlook was the same of Josh’s during his swim in Sydney.

Her name was Lauren. Lauren, my ex-girlfriend, had called it quits to the relationship. To be honest, it was mutual. We both knew it was ending.

Hurtful remarks were made, and the two of us left on a bitter note.

To my friends I vented, claiming the time spent together had been a waste.

I was focusing on the bad.

Dammit. Later, I'd recognize my mistake.

What I should have been doing was nothing. No venting, no reaching out, nor anything else related.

The damage had been done, as the two of us were finished, completely.

Similar to Josh’s experience in losing a medal, I felt I had lost the love of my life. I focused on the bad (in this case the waste of time), rather than seeing the good (the time we shared together).

So… On that note, I feel today I am turning over a new leaf, with this newly found perspective, as I head into another chapter of my life.

Lauren, from this point on will serve only as a past memory, as we (Lauren and I) determined earlier this same day. However, without question, my memory of her will remain a good one.

Nah, make it a great one.

 

I thank God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon my life so far, with Lauren being one of the many.

To Lauren, thank you for all the special memories, as I wish you the best in wherever life may take you.