Thursday, December 6, 2012

Chapter Review






The universe will always provide. IT is continuously  providing even when we are too exhausted and in a negative frame of mind  to recognize it. Often the manifestation of our hopes and dreams is best in hindsight so moving into a more mindful space can provide further clarity and guidance. Looking back on my time at Palmer West I can specifically call out several “thot-flash” moments that shaped my soul and carved out the path I am traveling down.



The first moment of clarity came to me before starting Palmer West. I visited Palmer Davenport and found out several weeks after the visit they no longer allow visually impaired students on that campus. Frustrated, I broke down for about ten minutes feeling defeated and that my dreams had been completely shattered. A couple of days later I found out that I could in fact attend their West campus in San Jose, California. Quickly, my attitude shifted… of course California is better than Iowa, so when the time presented I moved to the West coast. I had never wanted to live in California. I always thought I would live in Colorado or even back in Montana where I received my undergrad education. When the plane’s doors opened at SFO and I let my first California air I knew I was here to stay! I turned to my father and said, “I love California, this is where I am meant to be.”I felt in that instant certain comfort and sense of contentment in my decision to become a DC.




The next important moment occurred at the end of my first quarter of chiropractic school. I was making some amazing lifelong friends and starting to find a groove somewhere in between 30+ credits and living out my mid 20s as a fun loving hippieish girl! I was so happy to have several close girl friends (ABA) to laugh and run around the bay area with!  I was having fun and already thinking about what I would do after graduation. In first quarter I contacted UC Berkeley and inquired about their MPH program thinking that it would be a great fit for me. The crazy  over achiever in me, wanted to have a  plan in place for after graduation to continue my education since I believe the best part of life is learning. This intense focus on grades and titles almost caused me to miss a chance meeting with one of the most important people  in my life. I had been invited to a beer tasting party however I wanted to find out my grades and hang out with my quarter to celebrate the completion of our first quarter of chiropractic school. My girl friends encouraged me to go to my beer tasting and that I would meet up with them later. IT was there the universe introduced me to this random guy and although I thought he seemed pretty awesome at the time, my first quarter self could have never imagined that this was the person I would be starting a practice with several years later.




Time at Palmer is a  weird phenomenon. The weeks fly by but the days seem like a weeklong. It is a constant marathon of sitting over eight hours per day, taking notes, studying, being with the same people every second and cramming for 12 finals every 12 weeks. Burned out from all of my extracurricular activities including  two national positions and running several clubs I walked into my apartment one day and it was as if a bolt of lightning hit me. THOT-FLASH! I had created this warm, comforting home. Full of texture from the hemp rugs on the floor to the ruffled pillows on my bed. I always have music playing and candles burning. My apartment was truly a place for all of the senses to be embraced. I realized that this is it… this is my mission. I am meant to free nervous system interference to allow others to experience their lives in the most optimal way. For me this means truly being mindful and appreciating every sense not just being stuck in a visual realm. This set the ground work for many of my articles and public speeches and once I point it out to people that they should literally STOP and smell the roses, it seems to click for them. By freeing their imprisoned impulses I am freeing their minds…I am liberating their full potential! I love  adjusting subluxations and allowing that person to stop adapting to the world around them and instead living in harmony within their universe. It is beautiful and I am the most privileged  girl in the world to be able to do this each day!




Building upon my lightning bolt thought around sixth quarter I had aftershocks that have proven to be the stepping stones along my journey. One of the bridges that took me to a new level of thought exploration has been editing for the chiropractic page of All Things Healing. I kept reading the page and emailing with the supervising editor. I went back and forth on whether I could handle another responsibility at the time. I had patients in clinic, a couple clubs  which I was still president of and figuring out my future practice. I could not get At out of my head. Here was a huge opportunity to get the chiropractic message out to the world, so I jumped don it and never looked back.  It is not about me being editor and getting published, it is so much bigger than me. That is why I brought my good friend on as co-editor to double the amount of messages going out to the world. The chiropractic section was about to be  shut down due to lack of interest. It was consistently in the  bottom 2 , out of 40 sections, for page views. In one quarter we took it to #7! Knowing that thousands of people around the world were reading the chiropractic  message brought tears to my eyes. ATH is truly my greatest triumph during chiropractic school. I plan on being editor for years to come and continue to spread a positive chiropractic message with ATH as a major tool to do so. ATH goes hand in hand with giving talks at conferences. I love public speaking, it is almost a sick inner drive to push myself further and spread the message. Telling the story is my calling and I do not care if it is one person or an auditorium they need to know, they deserve to know, and I WILL tell them!

Chiropractic school brought many tears, sleepless nights, raging sympathetics yet the greatest reqrd.  Graduation last week was surreal. I was completely shaking walking into the auditorium. I thought my knees were going to give out and that I was going to make a complete fool out of myself. Winning the Virgil Strang award  brought some blood flow back to my extremities and reciting the oath  was magical.  My emotions are all  over the place however I have not had any time to allow them to surface. As soon as my family left town I started packing my life into boxes.  Packing away memories some into containers others kept close in my heart. Next week, when I am alone, I will process everything from the last several weeks and years.  This chapter has ended and a more important chapter is just getting started.  Each memory, meeting and idea provided by the universe is now guiding me to Santa Barbara. IT will be the epi-center for everything Genuine Chiropractic. I am so nervous, scared, excited and pretty much every emotion in between.  Learning from the past,  I am  moving forward and hoping  to better recognize clues from the universe and be in tune more with my own innate intelligence.




Thank you Palmer and San Jose for allowing me to become a Doctor of Chiropractic. A title in which I hold very near and dear to my heart. I feel the weight of the responsibility before me and trust that the universe will guide me and provide me with the best opportunities. IT is time to go out and change the world!

No comments:

Post a Comment