I had an interesting conversation recently with my chiropractor about wants vs needs.
But first let me back up a bit and tell you how we got to that place. My lower back will spasm on occasion. It’s been happening since 1990. Not all the time, but several times a year, and enough to be inconvenient at best, painful at worst. So I’ve visited various chiropractors over the years for treatment. None has mentioned attempting to permanently solve the problem.
But this one did. He’s figured out what the problem is (in layperson’s terms, I support my body with my back, not my abdominal muscles). So he’s given me exercises to strengthen the muscles that should be supporting my body, which in turn allows my back to “turn off.”
Seems simple enough, right? Yet in all these years, not a single chiropractor attempted to actually solve my problem. That, of course, made me curious about what makes this guy* different, so I asked him, “How did you figure this out?”
His response was, “Because I don’t just want to know, I need to know.” He has the intellectual curiosity about the functioning of the human body to figure out what should work together and what’s not working together, then he feels compelled to find a way to fix it. And he does.
Because we’re both chatty, we got into a great conversation about wants, needs, and what drives us in life.
His urgent sense of curiosity was something I completely related to, because I feel that way about the things I consider important in life – art, design, writing, helping and healing people. I don’t just want to do those things, I need to do those things. They are the things that drive me in life. As if there is a life force compelling me to do those things.
Of course I thought about this conversation for a good long time. Very rarely do I meet someone who is as voraciously curious as I am (my kids call it nosy – just keeping it real), so it was fascinating to see how someone else expresses that type of intense curiosity.
Which then, of course, made me wonder…what are other people intensely curious about – so much so that it drives them in life?
What are the things in life that you need to do to be happy? Have you considered it in those terms?
Is there something that makes you so curious in life that you simply must to discover more about? Please share your thoughts in the comments – the curiosity is killing me!
*This guy is Dr. Richard Ulm of Columbus Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Center in Dublin, Ohio. If you’re in the Columbus area, I highly recommend you give him a try if you’re in need of chiropractic help.
If you enjoyed this blog post, please share…