All in the swing

I have always marveled at individuals that possess the tenacity in their personal life to rise above their circumstances. Circumstances that often seem insurmountable or beyond one's physical or emotional limits. In my physical therapy practice we often see people that have been dealt a difficult hand in life, and they have a hard decision to make: to give up, or take one slow step at a time and move forward into a new life. Individual strength often stalls when their is physical and emotional pain present, and often, as physical therapists, this is where we step in to help.

You see, I have been a physical therapist for over 32 years, and I often see life's greatest accomplishments happening when people decide to use their individual strengths and talents in combination with other people's strengths and talents, and suddenly there is healing. This mixture of people's gifts is where the beauty lies, it is what the crew team refers to as the "swing.”

The "swing" happens when all nine people in the boat work together in rhythm and harmony, the boat appears to lift off from the water, and the perception is that you are flying. It's an interesting idea, the thought that possibly we are greater together than individually. That all the individual accomplishments are nothing without the team.

I just finished reading "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown. It is the story of the University of Washington crew rowing team that swept the US rowing scene in the 1930s, and then went on to win the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, just as Nazi Germany was getting underway. These were men from families of loggers, farmers and miners who came from difficult circumstances, but who prevailed and accomplished together what none of them could have done alone.

At one point, the world-renowned crew race boat builder George Yeoman Pocock would tell one of the crew members, Joe Rantz, that a well-rowed race was like a symphony, and that he was merely one of the players in the orchestra. He said you had to care about the other people in the boat and learn to be in harmony with them. He told him you have to open your heart to other people, even if it means getting your feelings hurt. Pocock told Joe "when you really start trusting those other boys, you will feel a power at work within you that is far beyond anything you've ever imagined. Sometimes, you will feel as if you have rowed right off the planet and are rowing among the stars."

I am mesmerized by the story. How is it possible to trust to that level, when individualism seems to be the standard in our country? How do we learn to work as a group and accomplish great things in our homes, businesses and across our great nation, if we refuse to work together for the greater good? I was taught to work hard, to be diligent and to keep pushing towards the goal, but do I know how to work together to accomplish something greater because of the gifts of the group?

In my physical therapy practice, my staff and I strive to be strong independent practitioners that work together for our patients well-being. We value the relationships we forge with our patients, because in those relationships, something amazing always happens when we work together. We see lives changed, and we see people return to the lives they desire with an attitude of gratitude in their new set of circumstances. It may not be easy. There may be pain and heartache, but I can tell you that when we all row together for the common goal, patients lives are restored, and great things happen together in the boat.

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Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy, and she and her staff are grateful to know you and serve you in this ever changing world of healthcare. Please come see us in our Coeur d'Alene office (208) 667-1988, Spokane Valley office (509) 891-2623, and in our new Hayden office (208) 762-2100.