How Much Faith Do We Need?
Faith is accumulated.
A big separation between the high achievers and low achievers is faith. Faith is really spiritually based. It requires Will. We must have enough faith to try.
I will always remember my first patient when I started my practice. I had developed a specialty in adjusting the upper cervical area (top two bones in the neck). I had learned that subluxation there could cause lower back pain. My first patient had lower back pain. I had taken lumbopelvic and cervical x-rays. Based on the images, I knew there were misalignments in the neck and no pathologies in the lower back. As I went into the room to adjust her, I thought, “Well here we go. This either works or it doesn’t.”
Wasn’t that a sign of doubt? Didn’t I have a lack of faith? How much faith did I need? I needed enough faith to try. Many people don’t have that much faith. They sit back and watch because they are afraid to get out of a chair and try.
Faith grows. That first patient had trouble standing on both feet when she came into the office. It was difficult to get her to stand with her weight balanced on her feet long enough to take x-rays. She walked out 30 minutes later. She still had pain but could walk on both feet. She was soon better.
Faith grows. From that beginning, I saw many people whose lower back pain was due to subluxations of the upper cervical spine. A few did not improve. Eventually, I also began adjusting the lower back when needed.
I took over an upper cervical practice. My receptionist knocked on the exam door and said a patient wanted to talk on the phone. When I answered, the patient told me that she had lower back pain and didn’t know what to do. Last time she had low back pain, the previous doctor sent her to someone else. I said, “Come on in. I’ll know what to do.” She said, “I had a feeling you would.”
The previous doctor had five years of experience and apparently did not have enough faith to try. I had over 20 years of experience and lots of success. I’m sure there was confidence in my voice.
What about when we try and fail? Failure can shake our faith. The few patients who did not respond to upper cervical adjustments caused me to look for another subluxation. I never lost my faith in the patient’s ability to heal. I just assumed I hadn’t found the problem yet. My results improved.
Want to up your game? Have enough faith to start. If you fail, learn from it. Change a little. Try again. Those who reach the top have a lot of faith. They accumulated that faith from experience. The experience often includes a lot of failure. Have enough faith to keep on keeping on. Learn from failure. Keep trying.
Lost your faith? Get help from someone who has lots. Learn, try, grow. No matter what the field, that process will help you succeed.