A wise teacher once told me “Know that if it is possible in the world it is possible for you”. In the chiropractic perspective, if another chiropractor is able to create an awesome practice it is possible for you – it’s simply a matter of the THOUGHT followed by the action of HOW.
One of the most frequent justifications offered by those practitioners who are not reaching their potential in practice is something along the theme of “You can’t do that in my town” – “that won’t work where I live” – or “people are different in my area”. The assumptions inherent in these statements are that “I can’t have an awesome practice where I am so I just have to suffer” or maybe “it will be better when I move to new location”.
These attitudes remind me of stories of the days of the mighty sailing ships. Brave sailors voyaged the unknown and uncharted waters, dependent on the winds and their scant knowledge of geography and navigation.
One of the greatest and most dangerous challenges was to traverse the area known as “the doldrums.” Extending about 30 degrees on either side of the equator, the doldrums are subject to days, weeks, and even months of no wind at all. Trading ships made the long and difficult crossing from Europe to South America, lying becalmed in the doldrums—with no land in sight and with the ship’s supply of fresh water dwindling—was a terrible and life-threatening situation.
But history and legend offer us some fascinating insights into the power of our own thinking and belief. Back then no one had yet figured out how to determine longitude, although latitude was easily calculated. So if you could not see recognisable land, you could only know in what band of latitude you currently were. Exactly where you were in that ring around the earth was, at that time, unknowable.
And so it happened that at times a ship would reach the coast of South America, out of sight of shore, fresh water supplies exhausted and death knocking at the door. Then, with what must have been the sweetest sound those sailors could ever have hoped for, the lookout would suddenly call out that a ship was approaching in the distance.
Once the ship was within hailing distance, the cry went up: “Water! Give us water!”
And the reply would come back, “Lower your buckets over the side.”
Although the sailors didn’t know it, they were afloat in a virtual river of drinkable and life-sustaining water flowing from the mouth of the Amazon River. This massive river carries nearly 20 percent of all the earth’s runoff water into the sea with such force that the fresh (or brackish but safe) water flows as far as 160 kilometres out into the Atlantic.
The sailors, dying of thirst, only THOUGHT they were experiencing lack based on their limited knowledge. The REALITY was that they were afloat in a literal sea of abundance. Exactly what they needed was within their reach the whole time, but the APPEARANCE of scarcity and their BELIEF in that appearance threatened to overpower them. They could have died—and many certainly did—believing in lack while surrounded by abundance.
Too often chiropractors have bought into a notion that there are not enough people to fill their practice. This thought seeks evidence and leads to the desperate and impoverished actions of high need.
There is unlimited abundance available for chiropractic. We are afloat in a sea of abundance. The demand for what we have is way in excess of our ability to provide. Just imagine, if every person in the world knew what we know about chiropractic and demanded care as we would have it for ourselves – we wouldn’t have time to do anything but adjust people. Despite what the drug companies and the medical doctors tell people about the smallness of the fellow within, people are waking up to the façade.
Tapping in to the abundance that exists is simply a question of KNOWING that you ARE afloat in a sea of abundance. Imagine how differently you would act if you knew that every person you serve in your practice has a whole swag of friends who need and want your care?
When you KNOW that there are thousands of people in your community who want to benefit from your care the second part – that of HOW to lower your ‘buckets’ over the side is a mere formality.
