Money does not equal wealth
Posted March 6th, 2008 by acumel
A former classmate called me the other day raving about a clinic she had visited. This clinic belongs to one of our former teachers. Anyway, she went on telling me how busy he was and that while she was there, one of his patients left the office after paying a $280.00 bill for one visit. (Now, keep in mind that she always refers to what I do as "that community thing".) She thought it was so great that he was making so much money, charging for injection therapy (a big thing here in Florida), herbs and a visit. "Well, isn't that awesome?" she asked me. Hmmm...
I then told her about my great day at the clinic. We had a patient who had come to us a couple weeks ago and was out of work because of a shoulder injury. We treated him for a couple weeks and now he is able to go back to work again. He came in to our office with a smile, ear-to-ear, "Just wanted to tell you that I appreciate what you guys are doing. It feels good to be able to work again. I don't have a lot, but I wanted to bring you a gift." And with that, he presented us with a beautiful orchid for the clinic.
Now that's awesome! I love my job! 
Isn't "that community thing"
Isn't "that community thing" wonderful? You being gifted with an orchid after making a real difference in someone's life put a huge smile on my face.
acumel's blog
It's isn't unusual for me to come home with my bag bulging with something thoughtful from a similarly grateful patient: a really nice soap, a bag of home-grown oranges, or homemade brownies, or a huge slice of winter melon. One of my favorites was this exquisite origami mobile that is now hanging in my house. I'm sure this happens to all of you, and yes, we do love our job because of this beautiful exchange of healing and gratitude, on both sides. You see, when you make a lot of money by charging high fees, you can go out and buy this stuff, but every time you use these things, do you get a nice glowing memory of the grateful patient who gave it to you? (to quote Skip) Ha!
Lumiel
What a great story! It is
What a great story! It is always statisfying to help someone quickly get back to work.
Tom Riordan L.Ac.