Extraordinarily Ordinary

 

What I used to do as a chiropractor

seemed like an ordinary mechanical action.

Something or things were out of place,

put them back where they should be.

 

Sometimes I heard medical doctors speak

disparagingly at what we did and say that

the laying on of hands might have some effect

as if the rest meant nothing.

 

When I started practice I thought my technique

was ninety percent of what I did and was very

diligent at being the best that I could be.

 

Lessons came flooding in the first few years.

The time I really wanted someone with sciatica

to get better and started getting sciatica myself.

The lesson was to do my best but not be attached

to the results, not take it on.

 

There were the many times I was getting behind on

my schedule but had to realize that what I did was too

important to rush. And old Amish saying always popped

(pun intended) into my mind in those times, “The faster

I go the behinder I get.” So I slowed down to speed up.

 

One time I came to treat a patient after I had an upsetting phone

discussion with an insurance person about a different

patient. She said to me, “What did I do?”

 

The time I was frustrated by a patient who wasn’t getting better

and asked her if she really wanted to get better. She said yes but the

next time in admitted she looked inward and agreed that she really

didn’t want to…and then started getting better.

 

Not everyone got better, but I can now say with certainty

that I tried my best with every patient I ever treated. And the

ninety percent technique that I started out thinking the case,

became fifty one percent intent by the time I retired.

 

I learned that caring is the heart of this life

and I’ve learned that carries over to everything.