By William N. Willis, D.C.
Do you know anyone who walks on water? No I don’t mean the magical or mythical
personalities who mastered the art of levitation. Water-walkers are much more
common than that. They are men and women who seem to do everything right. They
achieve success that is far beyond the average.
In chiropractic they are the happy warriors who have large successful practices.
Their patients get well and love their doctor so much they bring in so many
friends and family to share in the experience that he or she never finds it
necessary to advertise.
You look at them and think they must be—like Jesus himself—powered
by a heavenly force that keeps their feet just above the waves. Often you say,
“I can’t do that.” However, the truth is that you can also be
a water-walker if you’re willing to get out of the boat.
Unfortunately, many people in chiropractic today don’t get out of the boat
because they’ve become overly fond of their favorite chair-like lifestyle—the
La-Z-Boy. Statistics tell us much of the population has become a nation of “couch
potatoes” that spend all their time comfortably ensconced in a seated position
while their mindless stare at the flickering images that dance across their
TV screens. The chiropractic version is the “chiro-spuds” who have
grown comfortable in whatever position in which they find themselves.
The comfort is purely illusionary. Many with small practices pretend that it
would be too much work to have a large practice. “I’ve have to work
all the time,” they say. “I can’t give quality care if I’m
seeing too many people,” they believe. The truth is, of course, that a
large successful practice gives you more freedom to hire associates, to care
for your patients in the way you desire rather than always thinking about how
much you need to collect unpaid bills.
Fear may also be an inhibiting factor. While there is much that doctors can
be afraid of, the number one fear is almost always the fear of telling people
the truth about chiropractic. Doctors instead try to figure out what their patients
want to hear. Do they think it’s all about low back pain? Does talk of
the subluxation seem too unscientific?
It is easy to allow fear to take away your power so that you become ineffective
in your work. Many doctors in this position remind me of scene in the film “Top
Gun.” A fighter pilot played by Tom Cruise has watched his friend die in
a horrible accident. He becomes so paralyzed by fear and indecision that he
can only watch helplessly as his fellow pilots engage enemy fighters in a deadly
air duel.
Over the radio in his helmet he hears his co-pilot shouting “Engage, Maverick,
Engage!” Does that scene describe you? Are you watching helpless while
the chiropractic fight goes on around you. Are you unable to engage because
of your fear?
Over the years I’ve seen quite a few of my colleagues who have been able
to put first one foot, then another, tentatively over the side, then let go
and finally stand firmly—on water!
What does it take to make a water-walker? We talk about obedience to principle
and courage in the face of adversity, but it takes a little more than that.
First, no matter how good you are or how committed you are to principle and
ethical responsibility, you’re going to run headlong into problems and
troubles.
My good friend Dr. John Hoffman has for many years maintained a highly successful
practice in Michigan. In every way he radiates the aura of success. Yet, he
has often said that he’s himself has sometimes taken the leap only to find
himself crashing on the rocks of failure. Still, he continues to take chances
and as a result he has enjoyed so many successes that nobody seems to remember
the times that he’s come up short.
The writer Anne Bradstreet noted in the mid-17th century a truth that is as
appropriate today as it was then: “If we had no winter, the spring would
not be so pleasant. If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would
not be so welcome.”
Problems are an unpleasant fact and solving them is what gives color, flavor
and meaning to our existence. Yet too many people prefer to play it safe. They
stay in the boat and think they’re avoiding risks and never seem to grasp
that that they may be in greater danger by staying where they are than by getting
out and moving forward.
How many chiropractors have come to view themselves as failures because they
were not willing to set out on their own? They tell themselves they can’t
open their own practice and thus must be content to be an associate. They work
hard, but they grow someone else’s practice and the rewards are always
someone else’s. Then one day the boss decides that he can’t afford
his associate any longer and the one thing you feared most comes to pass. You’re
cast adrift with no one to depend on but yourself.
In every sector of the economy employees who once felt great loyalty to the
company they believed would take care of them have found a bitter truth. They
are expendable, just like a machine that is too expensive to maintain.
Making the decision to get out of the boat can be a difficult one, and it must
be a choice made with both eyes open. In the words of the best selling book,
we must “Face the fear and do it anyway.” But also remember that the
fear will never truly go away. If it does, then you’re deluding yourself
just as much as the people back in the boat. The only difference is that when
out in the middle of the water, you’ll be shown your error that much faster.
If you’re going to be a successful water-walker, then you must be devoted
to the truth in every form. Problems aren’t going to go away because you’ve
decided to face up to them. In fact, when you open your eyes, you’re likely
to see even more than ever. The difference now is that you can deal with them.
You can fight your battles with the prospect of carrying the day.
Stepping out takes courage, but courage alone is not enough. Wisdom and discernment
must accompany you.
Many people seem to think that all we need to solve problems is knowledge. Perhaps
that explains why our modern age has grown to worship science and technology
as the answer to our many ills. In addition, although it’s true that science
has made our lives better in many ways, it hasn’t solved many of our most
vexing ills. We are still plagued by endless wars, intractable poverty and a
seemingly endless array of new diseases. More knowledge hasn’t made human
relationships any easier.
Knowledge without application teaches little; knowledge with application equals
wisdom. We must take the knowledge that we acquire and put it into practice.
Through experience we learn what works for us and what does not.
You can draw up a detailed business plan and assemble demographic and business
data that clearly show cash flow and profit. Until you take it to a bank or
other lender, secure a loan and open up, it remains nothing more than an academic
exercise.
To begin, you must face your fear and not allow it to have the last word. Fear,
particularly fear of failure, is one of the greatest deceivers in our lives.
As Dan Millman explained in The Laws of Spirit, “[B]ut people rarely ever
fail; they only stop trying.”
You must also have a good reason to get out of the boat. Why are you walking
on water? For a chiropractor it must be the discovery of a true calling that
can have a profound impact on your life and the lives of all those you encounter.
Finding that calling also requires also discovering the belief in your goals
and the value you place on them. Is being a doctor who restores health through
the power of the adjustment worth the risk? Only you can answer that question,
and until you can speak your truth with conviction, you can never be a successful
water-walker.
Belief in yourself and your goals, however, won’t stop the waves from crashing
over you sometimes. Some failures come with the territory when you’re a
water-walker. Again, this is an area where wisdom only comes through application.
Everyone has heard that you have to try—and sometimes fail—in order
to succeed. We’ve all heard the remarkable story of Abraham Lincoln’s
numerous defeats in business, politics and personal life before he achieved
the great success of winning the presidency and saving the Union.
We hear the words but we don’t understand them if they’re not impressed
upon our heart. I often think of the great and frequently misunderstood Biblical
adage “Know the truth and the truth will set your free.” The key phrase
is “know,” not “know of.” Until you have gone through the
fear of stepping out into the water and let it soak you to the skin then you
don’t really know and understand. It’s still something you’ve
just heard about.
A young scholar in India set out on a journey to a far town. In the middle of
the journey he came to a wide river where he retained a boat to take him across.
As the oarsman paddled across, the young man regaled the older man with stories
of all the things he learned during his years of study. “Ah, that is very
impressive,” said the man. “But, young man, in all your studies did
you ever learn to swim?”
“Why, no,” replied the scholar.
“Then, I’m afraid that all your fine knowledge is wasted because the
boat is sinking.”
When we become water-walkers we no longer have to worry about the security of
a boat we don’t own and can’t control. Instead, we can delight in
the personal control that we will have over our own lives and the growth we
will be able to experience.
Once you get out of the boat and plant your feet firmly on the water, you will
never be the same. You can, of course, choose like so many to never leave the
safety of boat. That is a choice, and it is one that I respect. Many are never
meant to be water-walkers.
Those who do get out of the boat, however, embrace the danger, the responsibility,
and the rewards.
One of the great water-walkers, Oliver Wendell Holmes, said, “I find the
great thing in this world is not so much where we are as in what direction we
are moving. To reach the port of heaven we must sail sometimes with the wind
and sometimes against it. But we must sail, and not drift, and not lie at anchor.”
My hope for you is that you will step out of the boat. Once you do you’ll
never be the same again.
© Copyright 2002 Today's Chiropractic