The journey of life is the journey of discovery. Take a minute to observe a child being a child in their natural state. Their absorbent mind is filled with curiosity for its environment and everything in it from a scratch on his skin to a fly on the wall to the movement of a pea on her dinner plate. There is a constant source of wonder, fascination and discovery. They notice, they explore, they test and then move on when their process of discovery is complete for now.
Discovery is known by many names – find, locate, come across, come upon, stumble on, chance on, light on, bring to light, uncover, unearth, turn up, track down, become aware of find out, come to know, learn, realize, recognize, see, ascertain, work out, fathom out, detect, determine, spot, notice, perceive, hit on, come up with, invent, originate, devise, design, contrive, conceive of…. And many other such descriptions.
Discovery is native to people. It is a product of curiosity. It’s the process of finding and locating pre-existing phenomena and it has driven human beings from their earliest history. The quest of finding what is already there has been woven into humans throughout the history of mankind.
From the discoveries of fire, the wheel and properties of stone and metals by the cavemen to the discoveries of the body and its parts to the discoveries of the world and new lands, the heavens and the oceans the discovery of the macrocosm and the microcosm is due to this insatiable desire to learn more which has driven humanity forward.
Many times famous discoveries have been ‘accidental’ or stumbled upon unexpectedly or during a search for something totally different. Discovery is probably due more to an enquiring and open mind than to a situation. Two people can be in the same situation and have two very different discoveries that come from it.
As chiropractors we are privileged by virtue of our philosophical perspective to embrace an individualistic worldview in that we see all people as being unique, a once in an eternity phenomena.
The process of discovery in your practice begins with an identification of the landscape that you are dealing with. Finding out where the person is at – what their history is – what their expectations are – what their hopes and aspirations are will assist you in getting on their ‘wavelength’.
The case history gives you a format to discover where the person has come from on their life’s journey. Your systems review gives you and the person an opportunity to discover the way in which the person has experienced life – the areas and systems that have been supported and stressed throughout their life become evident. The patterns they have developed will emerge. The energy centres they have fed or starved will show. In fact their viewpoint on life, death, health, past, future, self and so on will become apparent as you come from a space of discovery.
The process of discovery is indeed a fresh and exciting adventure as every person we serve is totally unique and even different to the previous encounter that we had with them some minutes before they received an adjustment .
Every adjustment that you give to a person causes the person to be different – immediately. The saying that “you cant step into the same river twice” rings true in this context. When you give an adjustment that is accepted by the person’s body as a constructive force it is used by the person’s innate intelligence to adjust that person to a greater ability of comprehension and adaption of his/her environment.
In this process everything changes so the next moment is a new moment and therefore presents you with a new opportunity for discovery at a new level.
So after every single adjustment you are dealing with a TOTALLY DIFFERENT person – digest the ramifications of this.
This requires that you must reanalyse that person again as they will be offering a different demonstration to their ability to adapt IMMEDIATELY upon utilising the adjustment. You can’t adjust a person to yesterday’s (or last minute’s) subluxations – you must be acting consistent with a person’s present unique expression of being.
Take the time to discover the fascinating complexities of the people you care for – be like the child in their natural state. Fill your absorbent mind with curiosity for everything in your experience rejoice in the chiropractic dance of discovery.
Mark
