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| To Deal with Change, Keep Your Focus on Love |
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by Matthew Goodemote MPT, Dip MDT - May 16, 2011
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I learned something today, or maybe I should say I remembered something today. When everything seems to be falling apart at the seams, there is a hidden truth waiting to burst forth, and with enough patience and perseverance, the way forward will present itself. Unfortunately, the way I tend to learn lessons is by getting hit over the head with a sledgehammer. Fortunately, when these difficult lessons come, they tend to change my direction permanently. Lately, I have really seen how futile it is to try and have things my way. As I have said many times...it is not my will, but Thy will that matters.
Over the last few weeks, I have been spending more and more time at the Wellness Center. We have one of our therapists out on maternity leave and a second one due the middle of May- but she and I have a deal that she will wait to have her baby until the end of the month.( Somehow, I don't think she is going to be able keep her promise to me, but I'll survive.) As a result of the therapists on maternity leave, I am picking up a chunk of their hours and caseload. In addition to the maternity leaves, we have also taken on a new computer documentation system to assist the therapists in writing notes. This is the final phase of a major undertaking with cutting-edge documentation. We want to stay at the forefront of the changes in health care and make sure we are living up to our professional obligations. This is part of what has had me down recently. I have had my hands full trying to facilitate the changes and keep my peace while I do it.
We brought in a leader in the physical therapy profession to help us learn what we needed and to give us a framework for incorporating it into the flow at the Wellness Center. This is another part of the struggle I have gone through personally. This expert informed me that my vision was a possible roadblock. Here I thought I really had things worked out, and then BAM! along comes a challenge that contradicts what I thought I knew. I found myself discouraged and frustrated. I found myself remembering the "good ole days" and resisting this moment. In other words, I found myself falling prey to the very thing I have repeatedly offered a perspective on to others.
I can remember when I was in Virginia working with the spine surgeon. First things were going great, then they got messy, and finally, I found myself moving back home with my life taking off in a different direction and in a variety of different ways. When I look back now on the changes that happened, it is so clear to me how each event lined up to make the next event possible. Had each previous event not happened, I would not have been ready to handle the next one.
Although we often fail to see this when we caught up in coping, in retrospect, it is obvious how this happens and how "Thy will" wins out every time. Sure, we can fight it and protest and kick and scream that we don't like what we are going through. We can pretend we are not affected. We can convince ourselves that with a bit more effort, focus or will power, we'll get what we think we want. But if we all stop and look at our lives more closely, the events that often stand out the most are the ones that seem to have just happened to us. For example, I met my wife in the strangest of places at a time when my interests were on my career, not my personal life. The connection my wife and I share is greater than I have words to express. The consultant who has been assisting us through this time of change came along right when we needed him. We found him "by chance."
I opened the Wellness Center with an idea that has never actually come to fruition because what I found myself involved in is far greater than anything I could have imagined. It's hard to believe how many people have been touched by the Wellness Center and how much it means to them. Over the last month I have had countless people thank me for starting the Wellness Center and how important it is in their lives. I am not trying to be humble when I say that I feel as blessed to be a part of it and that I sincerely feel that it is beyond my doings. I don't feel responsible for the impact it has had, the fact is that the collective group of people that make up the staff is why the place is so special.
We have bonded into a family and in my experience, a family is always there for you, whether you are physically there or not is not the point. The love that joins people together is a bond that is beyond location. The love of a family carries for miles uninterrupted and as I have shared before, love survives even death. Love is the uniting ingredient that makes us a family. I feel it, give it, breathe it and live it. My life is a blessed life and it is because I have such a great family...and I do mean my immediate family, my staff and my community. Who would have ever guessed that it was my turn to receive the gift of peace from all those who I have built relationships with through the last few years?
The changes we have made to the schedule, to our documentation and especially to our staff, have been hard, harder on me than I can express in words, and yet I see clearly how change is not what hurts, it is holding onto something that hurts. Freedom that comes from letting go, from truly staying open and loving. I admit that during this process, my strength has faltered more than once over the last few months, only to find that I am supported, loved and cared for. I am not in distress...oh, no...I am in love!
To my family Wellness Center family, all I can muster is a heartfelt “Thanks!” It is because people who work at the Wellness Center do so because, as the mother-to-be told me a couple weeks ago..."this is way more than a job to me!" No truer words could have been said. The Wellness Center is more than a job...it is more than a center to go to for help physically...it is a family in every aspect...but most importantly because of the love that lifts it to a whole other dimension.
So as I sit back and digest the changes happening all around me, I can honestly say I am taking a step back to enjoy the ride. As I see the changes unfolding, I remember that it is not my will that matters here. It is not my will that matters at all. What I remember is that when I am with someone I love, my heart is open and when their heart is open, too, a connection happens. This connection is what is important and it is what people feel at the Wellness Center. The changes that we go through are not where the focus belongs. Our attention belongs on what matters most, and what matters most is love.
Matthew Goodemote is the founder and owner of Community Physical Therapy & Wellness in Gloversville, NY. He has degrees in Exercise Science, Health Science, Physical Therapy, and he is one of just over 250 in the world with a Diploma from the McKenzie International Spine Institute. Matthew is recognized as an expert in the fields of Physical Therapy, orthopedics, spinal disorders, sports medicine, and wellness. He is routinely called upon to offer tips and suggestions relating to health and wellness. His unique approach makes him a highly sought after expert at different ends of the media spectrum. He has received requests to participate in studies for scientific journals, and to write articles for trade magazines and popular press magazines such as Fitness to offer proven recommendations that stand the test of time. More of Matt’s blogs can be found at http://www.matthewgoodemote.com/blog/.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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