DIVERSITY CAN LEAD TO STRENGTH
I am always amazed at the many different backgrounds physical therapists cover here in the states. There are so many ways a person can gowhen it comes to studying. My professors were correct when they stated this profession beginswith a lifelong learning process. That is true of most professions and organizations. We must be malleable if we are going to withstand the pressures of society, not that living is so rough. Being flexible is far more desirable than to be rigid in one’s beliefs and practices. I can remember early on in practice that I passed by some very good treatment options because I failed to take into consideration what I observed to be too good to be true. Now it is true that if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. Youmust have some core beliefs and values, not just in a personal way but also professional. We all have to have a starting point. Wherewe go from there is another issue. I dare say all of our PT’s here in Appalachian Physical Therapy practice 60-70 percent the same way or close to it. That means we all have some room to be diversified and the ability to bring something different to a treatment plan with our patients. This is so necessary and is preferable as our patients are all different andmay require something else than what one professional has to offer. A quick question or a second opinion with one of our colleagues can make the difference in a patient progressing or progressing well. The same is true of our classes we attend. I used to think PT’s were so special and I only wanted to attend those post graduate classes that were restricted to physical therapists. I mean, we would learn faster by covering information we were all familiar with or should be andwe could get a deeper understanding from us all being on the same page. Well, I soon found this was not at all true. You certainly must have a basis of knowledge to begin with to understand the information being passed on. However, having different professions involved in the process has the ability if allowed that will help us see a broader picture. Today our society seems to be so focused on ourselves. It
takes only a fewminutes to walk around to figure this out. We have road rage with folks raising cane with others on the roadwho are less than courteous. We see folks stopped at intersections texting when no one is in front of them. They are so focused on themselves they are oblivious to those behind them. Heck, we had a student walking on a sidewalk a few years ago in our county who was texting with her mom and walked off a curb into a bus and was killed. There seems to be a lot of anxiety and even hate involved in our society today. We get bent out of shape at the color of our skin and where a person is from than who the person really is. I have to tell you being brought up in the south as a child, I was exposed to many things that had a tendency to shape me into a person thankfully I amnot today. I was able through a lot of prayer, faith and friends to find a better way and realize no one has all the answers and all of us are God’s gift to the world. I would like to think I ama better person for it. I need to remember I am only human and always have a tendency to fall back on my old ways. Keep praying for me. Our staff here at Appalachian Physical Therapy comes from all walks of life and brings strength to our company if we let it. The same is true of the society we live in today. There is so much diversity in our communities and to believe any one segment has all the answers would be akin to sticking our heads in a mound of sand. I was reading in scripture today 1st Corinthians 12: 12-26: 12For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bound or free; and have beenmade to drink into one Spirit. 14For the body is not one member, but many. 15If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? 16If the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? 17If the whole body was an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing,
where would be the smelling? 18But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. 19And if they were all one member where would the body be? 20But now there are many members, yet but one body. 21And the eye can not say unto the hand, I have no need for you. Nor again the head to the feet, I have no need for you. 22No much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. 23And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts havemore abundant comeliness. 24For our comely parts have no need: but God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. 25There should be no division in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26Andwhen onemember suffers, all themembers suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. These verses stick in my head every time I work with one of our patients. I hear way too often this is a shoulder or a knee or back. No! It is a person with an injured shoulder or an injured knee or an injured back. It is but one part of the whole body and all parts work together to make the whole body functional. We have to look at the whole body to see the injured member. The same is true with our society. So during this time of year, it would be wrong to just wish you a Merry Christmas. Yes, I have been brought up in the Christian faith but there are many other faiths out there that are just as important to those who practice them. Besides Christians we have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and many others. Together with our diversity, we can accomplish a great deal if we work together tomake a better world. A unified body! Let’s be thankful and really make an effort this coming year to be patient and supportive of all folks and faiths, especially those different from us. It only takes a second for us to realize we are different to them. Reach out and shake a hand or give a smile or aword of encouragement. It makes a difference. Have a great holiday season and may you enjoy this time with friends and family.
ARTWORK AT THE OFFICE
Harrisonburg Artist: Trudee Smith Trudee Smith, artist for Harrisonburg. December 2nd through February 5th. Trudee Smith was born and raised in central Wisconsin where she also studied art in the University of Wisconsin system. She took every painting and drawing class that was offered, as well as every
G Smith Facebook page. Pinehurst Artist: Beth E. Roy Beth E. Roy, artist for Pinehurst. December 2nd through February 5th.
Growing up in rural Michigan, artist Beth Roy acquired the foundation which allows her paintings to come to life today. She began riding horses at an early age and her life-long relationship with them has allowed her to translate them beautifully. Her professional art schooling was obtained at Austin Peay State College, in 1986-87 and at Christopher Newport College in 1989. Her works are currently represented in Beaufort
independent study course that was available. Shemoved to Virginia in 1984 and settled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. She now lives just outside of Waynesboro, Virginia. Trudee impacts this to others in the art workshops she teaches in Grottoes, Virginia. Trudee also teaches piano and guitar to both adults and children. Trudee has hadmany gallery shows, been accepted intomany juried art shows and won numerous awards, including “Valley Best Artist” in 2005 and 2006. Trudee has sold her work nationwide. Her paintings are on display in many municipal settings, in businesses, as well as in private collections and galleries in Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Virginia. She has done many commissioned pieces, including portraits, pet portraits, and local landmarks, in both pencil and in oils. Still life, florals, and seascapes are found in most of her exhibits, but landscapes remain her favorite. Trudee paints for joy of painting and loves the challenges of a changing palette and new and different subject matter. It is all exhilarating, but she is drawn to bucolic scenes, mountains roads, Wisconsin lakes and farms, as well as Virginia’s country lanes. She has a fascination for the play of light and shadow and the many moods of color and loves to paint them in a way that seems to speak to the soul of the viewer. Painting is one of her greatest pleasures and is truly a passion of her heart. The paintings of Trudee Smith can also be viewed on her Trudee
and Southern Pines, NC. After painting in watercolor for 15 years, Beth changed to oils in 2002 for the permanency. In 2006 Beth was awarded an Honorable Mention for oils in the ACMC Festival and then in 2008 was awarded 1st place in oils at the Festival for the large landscape “Water Lilies. In 2009 she was awarded Best in Show at the juried Artist League of the Sandhills Pot of Gold Show. In 2015 Beth created a pottery studio in her garage which allows her tomake stoneware and raku pottery as a relaxing “hobby”. After many years of showing horses Beth accepted the formidable position of Volunteer Coordinator for Carolina Horse Park. She also co-organizes Running Start Horse Trial and Carolina Derby Cross. Beth and her husband Tom live on their farm in Vass, NC with 3 horses, 2 cats and a dog. Other pastimes are mountain biking, yoga, Jazzercise, reading, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. Visit her website at www.betheroy.com.
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online