“You never know how far reaching something you may think, say or do today will effect the lives of millions tomorrow. It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.”
This is a famous quote from one of my mentors, B.J. Palmer, that took on a whole new meaning to me recently and I want to share the story with you because of the impact it may have on your life.
On our recent family holiday to Jamaica we were walking through the lobby of the resort on the first day when I heard someone yelling “Dr. Tom is that you?” I turned to face a middle aged woman running over from the beautiful terrace that overlooked the ocean, asking once again “Dr. Tom is that you?” I did not recognize the person in that moment but I certainly recognized my name and so I turned to face her and said “Hi, can I help you?”
“You probably don’t remember me but my name is Raelene and I was a practice member in your office many years ago. You really helped me and since I have moved away I have lost touch. When I saw you walking through the lobby I couldn’t believe it and just had to come over and say hello.”
Even though it had been years since I had last seen her, I recognized her name and that triggered a memory of her smiling face and “bingo” I was right back to the late 90’s in my mind and started to warmly remember our time together. Well it was like old home week at that point as we started to reminisce about that era of our lives, the team that I worked with and how much my children had grown. It was phenomenal to see her and get reacquainted after 15 years.
As rewarding as that trip down memory lane was, what really rocked my world was what happened three days later. I was working out in the gym and a couple of middle aged gentleman walked in and one of them started lifting weights. The other gentleman seemed particularly interested in what I was doing and I noted it and carried on as I could not place who he was.
As I walked over to the water cooler to get a drink the gentleman said to me “You are Dr. Tom aren’t you?” Well to say that I was a bit taken aback would also be an understatement as I thought to myself, how could this happen twice in the same week? A perceived stranger knowing my name and I do not have a clue who this was. I tend to pride myself on names and faces but I had to admit I was not getting any memories of this person as I looked into his eyes.
“Yes,” I said as I continued to rack my brain for who this person was. “Who are you again?” I asked in a totally perplexed way. “I am Raelene’s husband Rick and she said she bumped into you the other day and was thrilled to reconnect with you.” “Hello,” I said as I began to scratch my brain to remember back on the many years of service to Raelene, and to whether I had ever met her husband. I was 99% sure I had never adjusted him and was fairly sure I had never met him but hey …… it was a quite a few year ago.
Sensing my perplexed look he said “I know you have never met me before but I just wanted to say hi and thank you for what you did for Raelene. She could hardly function with those migraines she has lived with for all those years and they were getting worse and worse. We were very limited with what we could do in those days because we never knew when she would be hit with a migraine. We had very few friends, did not go out much and rarely travelled.
“YOU GAVE MY WIFE HER LIFE BACK AND THEREFORE GAVE US OUR LIFE BACK AND I JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT AND TO KNOW WHAT A HUGE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES!”
I was so appreciative of this relative stranger taking the time to express his gratitude to me. It absolutely made my week ……. Hell my month …… and is the main reason I am writing to you today. You truly do not know how far reaching something you may think, say or do today will affect the lives of people tomorrow. However by connecting to and expressing your most authentic self to the world YOU WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES. It is how the Universe is set up.
Every person I have ever coached has three black belts and two PhD’s in beating the crap out of themselves. Please balance that with knowing you are making a difference in people’s lives …… even if it takes 15 years to find out.
Authentically yours
Dr. Tom