Expecting Outcomes

I am frequently suprised by the results I get doing acupuncture. Sometimes I get great results and other times almost nothing and it will be for the same problem. Each time I feel like I am loosing my touch, I need to step back and remind myself that I am not "doing anything" to this patient. I am merely allowing their body to heal. When I can step back and stop expecting that I will get results (and working too hard to get results sometimes) I find that my treatments work far more effectively.

I have listened to several other practitioners and some are of the mindset that they are doing something and they work very hard to make sure they get results. Others are like me. I might not heal every patient but I do make changes with each person. I try and remind myself that each patient gets what they need. There are people that I am completely frustrated by but they keep coming back to me long after I have suggested they might get better results from a collegue. I can only remind myself that we get what we need.

What we need is not always what we want. It's helpful to remind ourselves of this throughout life when we feel like we are not getting what we want. Perhaps we are getting what we need.