I love it when....

I love it when I find out, sometimes years later, that I helped someone.

I was in Lowe's recently, and ran into an "old" client whom I had not seen for years. I had thought that acupuncture mustn't have done so well for him, since he hadn't returned for treatment. He greeted me with great gusto, like an long-lost friend, and proceeded to tell his wife that I was the one who saved him from surgery. He went on and on, singing the praises of acupuncture (and me). I hadn't heard this before. He never returned to my office to let me know. (Note to professionals everywhere:It's a good thing I was wearing clean clothes, since this was a great marketing event: a bystander asked for my card!)

Soon after, I received a call from a regular client who left a message on my voicemail that I had "cured" her sinus infection. (I never use the word cure, and take no credit for "curing" since nature does the healing, not me.) But it was great to hear and very thoughtful for her to call to tell me.

And a colleague whom I treat just told me that her acupuncture treatments this winter really helped speed the healing from pneumonia, an illness that has had the tendency to linger for her in the past.

Then, a long-since-vanished client called to make an appointment after a 15 year absence, and we talked like we had seen each other only yesterday, like there was hardly a lapse in time. I recognized his name and voice immediately. He has an appointment this week, and I eagerly await his return.

These communications all came to me within a week's time. Perhaps the universe heard my silent musings of my occasional doubts, my wondering if it's time to retire, my fear of what will happen to acupuncture as health care delivery is overhauled in the near future, and my apprehension as money continues to tighten for my clients.

I know that I really needed to hear these things. And I decided to call the people who helped ME in the last several years to let them know how much their service meant to me. Sometimes we just forget to do it in the moment, forgetting that even the experts need the feedback.