As I write this I am sitting in the passenger’s seat of a shuttle being driven from Summit County in the Rockies of Colorado to the Denver airport. I was engrossed in banging away on my keyboard for some time and then looked up at the road ahead and immediately went into confusion mode. We are on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, and so are the opposing cars I thought. I momentarily went into high alert. I had dived into a pattern of driving on the left side of the road and all of a sudden this awareness of a right side of the road behaviour interrupted my pattern of safe and proper driving. Obviously a split second passed and I re-calibrated to this new pattern – one that ensures orderly and safe behaviour in this part of the world, just like the pattern that I have been used to in Australia is the orderly and safe behaviour there.
When it comes to patterns then we tend to think in terms of which is right? Patterns of individual, relationship, and group through to societal patterns cannot be judged as right or wrong (in fact that is the cause of disharmony between individuals, races and countries.
Probably when it comes to patterns it is more like, which pattern is useful?
Every person you see in your practice will have a complex series of non-useful patterns running. They may be accident patterns, sickness patterns, mess patterns, broke patterns, indispensable patterns, job change patterns, people can’t be trusted patterns, I always lose patterns and the list goes on. Obviously the opposite could be the case as well. Patterns around health, order, prosperity, trust etc can also be evident.
The powerful thing about patterns is that they are like heat seeking rockets. They are a powerful force for attracting and manifesting the form that confirms the pattern. We get what we expect, we attract what we fear and what we love.
The neat thing about patterns is that they can change very easily. The question must always be, is this pattern useful and if not what is a more useful pattern?
It doesn’t take huge input to change a pattern. There was a study in the 1920’s which produced a phenomena known as the Hawthorn Effect. They found that when they made a small change in the lights and the temperature of an industrial area it gave increased production in this particular plant.
So, a small tweak made a huge difference in output.
Any change will create significant change. As a chiropractor you have a superb ability to change people’s patterns in the course of your normal day. Consistent with the theme of Quadrant 1 make sure that you are firstly clear on your own patterns. If you have a sickness is normal pattern you will allow others to run their sickness pattern and you will be oblivious to the fact.
Your first step is in becoming aware of your patterns. The next phase is in being willing to and having the appropriate timing to interrupt other’s patterns that may not be useful for them.
This skill comes with awareness of self and observation of other’s behaviours. The more you do it the more you succeed and this, in turn creates a pattern for you as a useful changer of patterns.
