Dear Practice Member,
Allow me to begin by stating- writing a letter like this is unusual.
I read an article not long ago that revealed several things to me. First, it is no secret that you might be criticized for your decision to see me in the first place. You may have been told that you’ve gone off the deep end, or that you’re “drunk on the kool-aid” when compared to the average person in our society. The ironic thing is, I am often labeled as being even farther outside the normal limits of our imaginations than you. Another thing our society may have led you to believe is that as a doctor and the person who works towards your well-being, I am supposed to have power over you – with degrees, expertise, and treatments that I will release at just the right moments. I am told to take my authority very seriously and to protect it by telling you very little about what goes on inside of me.
Well… I believe that is BS.
I am writing this letter for one specific reason: during your visits to our office, you’ve shared with me time and again how badly you feel about being so down and negative with your wounds and hurts. You’ve felt discouraged about burdening me with your, well, burdens. For this reason, I want you to know – early one morning this past week, I opened up our schedule at the office and I was overwhelmed… with gratitude. I glanced at the list of cherished people with whom I would be spending my time, and I noticed a singular thought came to mind:
I am the luckiest person in the world.
How many times have we seen individuals who go through every day of their lives (and specifically their workdays throughout the week) and never experience any type of authentic human connection? What number of people are hungering for even a tiny bit more vulnerability and sincerity, and genuineness? And to think, this is what I get to do at “work”, for the entirety of my day.
I can hardly believe that I get to do this.
In just over a year, you have radically transformed everything that I believe about the human race. I formerly thought that people were essentially flawed to the core – selfish, malicious, deceitful. Don’t get me wrong, those things do exist inside of most of us. I still see them displayed regularly. But then, together, we have found a deeper, purer place within you. An area with a light that shines so brightly, it’s gorgeous with a capital G. Every morning when I head towards the office, I am reminded that there is something radiant at the core of every individual I’ll see.
I am humbled by your loveliness.
I offer you an experience you cannot find in many other places – I analyze, identify, and correct interferences to your nervous system through a specific and gentle adjustment. I do my very best to empower you with all the knowledge you will need to make the best choices for your health so that you will get the best results. Sometimes, that knowledge is a revelation. And sometimes, you’ll hear me repeating something you already know. When I do that, you’ll most likely tell me so, and you’ll share with me your insights as to how your care has affected your life. To do my job at its highest level, I sometimes have to embrace the fact that I don’t have all of the answers, and I must be open to letting you know that I’m not the expert regarding everything – but I’ll always have your best interests at heart and will do my best to point you in the right direction so that you can get the answers you seek. Accepting that fact is entirely freeing.
I am humbled by your understanding.
You arrive and open yourself in a way that few people dare to do. For several minutes a week, you create an atmosphere of true connection through your vulnerability and determination to improve. There are some days and weeks when this is more painful than others. Sometimes, you may feel nothing at all. But then you display true endurance, and you come back again, to get adjusted again. Every day I come into our office, ordinary people teach me more and more about extraordinary fortitude and grit.
I am humbled by your willpower.
You reject the idea of sleepwalking through life. You reject the idea that numbing yourself to what is happening inside of you and around you is necessary to cope with every day. You instead require that you find a way towards optimal health. A higher quality of life. In all honesty, there have been plenty of Saturdays in which I found myself asking, “What was the point of my day?” but I haven’t ever been left wondering that at the end of a day in the office. In you, I see someone hunting to live a life that is fully alive. And I get the best seat in the front row to watch it unfold. To join you in it.
I am humbled by your passion.
Unfortunately, we seem to exist in a society in which, it appears, the flags are always flying at half-mast. There is so much negativity in the world and so much heartache. Most often, our jobs become the chief distraction from our heartaches. But when I come to work, I get to partner with those of you who have determined that heartache and grieving are essential parts of living fully alive. You cycle through your acceptance of your pain, your frustration at what is hurting you, your fight against disappointment if you don’t see the results as quickly as you wanted, and you find your way to becoming at peace with the process of healing through time and the repetition of those function improving adjustments. Along the way, you’ve taught me how to be more in tune with that process in the unique and indescribable way that it works so differently for each individual.
I am humbled by your relentless spirit and the tears that sometimes accompany it.
You see, every day that I’ll go into work this week, I won’t be the only doctor in the room – I have numbers of doctors listed by name and time on my schedule. Because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that God made us in an incredible way to be self-healing, self-maintaining and that you will teach me more about just what it means to be human. In reality, you are healing yourself, and I’m just a conduit so that your body can do what it was designed to do in a more efficient and effective manner.
I really can’t believe that I get to live this. But I do.
We do.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Dr. Tim
