青柳診所手記38

天冷起來了。清晨在陽台上做氣功時非得戴上手套和絨帽不可了。彈指之間這一年又悄悄過去，很快又是聖誕節了。

是的，今年聖誕我們的診所照樣開門。新年也照樣開門。

不是我們想賺錢想瘋了，而是我們擔心在這樣的特別的日子裡，有人需要我們，哪怕僅僅是幫到一個人，也是值得的啊。

還記得幾年前的一個聖誕日。正是新冠期間，大家都躲在家裡，街上幾乎沒有什麼行人，出來買菜的都很少，更何況是來光顧診所的呢？那時的大家，覺得去任何診所都是一件危險的事，更別說還是一個大風大雪的天。

一個中東來的老婦，不懂英語，我給渾身都有風濕痛的她做推拿，快做完了也不知道她到底感覺如何，她卻忽然褪下她戴着的口罩的一角，微笑着用布滿青筋的手指觸碰了我的臉一下，然後又把口罩輕輕戴上。那時候，我的眼淚差點掉下來了。那天她是我唯一的病人，但她送給我的一個微笑就讓我覺得在這風雪交加的天氣為她一個人而開門是完完全全值得的。

我們總是希望病人們不要送給我們任何禮物。每年人家送給我們的巧克力和購物卡都被我們轉送給別人了，因為我們並不看重這些物質上的回報。

能夠有緣治療那些需要我們的人，豈不就是上天給我們的饋贈？

這裡我徵得一個老人的同意，把他寫進我的診所手記中。他的幽默、慈悲、智慧常常讓我們微笑、感動。

他是來自於前蘇聯的教授T。雖然都快80歲了，但依然鶴髮童顏，兩眼炯炯有神。他的聲音有些嘶啞，他說有一次給人打電話時，對方說：“你的聲音聽起來有些怪怪的啊”。

他就呵呵笑着答：“你還沒有看見我的臉呢”。

記得第一次他來找我們，我問他有什麼問題時，他嘻嘻一笑：“啥問題都沒有，就是需要一個大腦移植。你們可不可以做這個手術？”

我在他的腦門扎針時，他就裝作嚴肅地說：“小心哦，裡面是空心的，針有可能從一頭穿到另一頭。”

每次他一來，診所里就笑聲不斷。大師兄平常是不善言辭的，但只要這個老人來了，他就變成了另外一個人，一老一小比賽似的，放聲高歌。一會兒是《喀秋莎》，一會兒是《山楂樹》，一會兒是《莫斯科郊外的晚上》。他們的笑聲，把診所都沸騰開了。我把我的治療室的門關得緊緊的，怕影響到我的病人了，誰想到有一次有個病人還特意叫我把門打開，並好奇地說：“他們的笑聲真有感染力啊。我在想：王大夫今天治療什麼樣的一個人呢？”

老人仿佛聽到對方的問話了，竟然大聲答過來：“那還用說，他治療的是一個外星人！”

大師兄的深層按摩有時把他弄痛了，不像有的人笑着說：“王醫生，你想知道什麼秘密？我招！我招！”

老人卻咯咯笑着：“好了，好了，我聽話！我聽話！”

他和大師兄都自稱自己是老布爾什維克，兩個人分手時，都畢恭畢敬互相立正行軍禮，那一本正經的場景真是讓人捧腹。

就是這個老人，自己用電腦打印出宣揚我們診所的海報，貼在他常去的健身房裡（健身房的工作人員把他數落了一番並叫他立即揭下來）；也是他急急忙忙去找他的眼科醫師，告訴她世界上還有一個叫青柳診所的地方也能看眼科；也是他把我們的名片複印了，一張張去發給他的朋友們；也是他最先主動在google review上幫我們寫評論……

他做這些，全都是義務的，也沒有事先告訴我們。做完了，我們謝謝他，他不過聳聳肩：“這是我愛做的，因為我想讓人知道：能在溫哥華遇到你們這家特別的診所，實在是我的幸運。”

對於我們來說，此生中能夠做這樣一位患者的醫生，實在是我們的幸運。

前天我們治療完了一個印第安老婦，她合掌向我們致謝。臨走到門口，又回過身來，再次低頭合掌，讓我們的眼睛都不由得濕潤了。

昨天一個小女孩來了，遞給我們兩個小蛋糕，仰着小臉微笑着說：“這是我跟爸爸一起烤的，還熱着呢，你們吃吧。”

今天治療一個遠道而來的醫生，他一見面就說：“我這輩子救治了成千上萬病人，但這是我第一次請求別人幫助我。我選擇你們，是因為你們和你們診所的能量跟別處不一樣……”

他走時付給我們美金（第一次有人付我們美金），我們想要找他錢，他就說：“就當我是捐給你們診所的好了。“

就這樣小小的驚訝和感動，讓我們覺得一年的辛勞都是值得的。我們還需要別的什麼禮物呢？

有一個母親一年到頭都是忙忙碌碌，除了照顧丈夫和兩個孩子，她還全職工作。她說今年她想破例給自己買一個禮物，問我有沒有什麼建議。

我想也不想就說：“每天給你自己三十分鐘的寂靜獨處的時間吧？那就是給自己的最好的禮物。”

如果沒有寂靜，如何能在生活和內心中找到平衡？

寂靜就是最好的休息。

寂靜就是能量的源頭。

寂靜就是你內在的銀行。

還有什麼比它更好的禮物呢？

Whispering of Willows 38

It's getting cold. When doing qigong on the balcony in the early morning, I almost have to wear my mittens and tuque.

This year slipped by in a blink of an eye, and soon it will be Christmas again.

Yes, our clinic will be open on Christmas day, as well as on New Year.

It’s not that we are crazy about making money and ignoring traditional festivals, it is because we worry that on such a special day, someone may need us. Even if we can help one person, it is worth it.

I still remember a Christmas Day a few years ago. It was during COVID time, when everyone was hiding at home; few pedestrians were on the street. Grocery shopping was considered dangerous, never mind going to a medical clinic.

On a Christmas Day, a stormy snowy day, who would even think of coming to see us?

But someone did, a senior from the Middle East who spoke very little English. I gave her a treatment for her rheumatic pain which was causing problems all over her body. When I was nearly done, I had no idea how she felt, only to watch her suddenly open a corner of her mask, showing me a beautiful smile, followed by a gentle tap with her bulging veined hand, as she put her mask back on again. Instantaneously tears came to my eyes. She was my only patient that day, but her smile made my day. Yes, it was completely worth opening the clinic just for her, on such a stormy freezing cold day.

We often tell patients it is unnecessary to give us any gifts – their improving health is the best gift. Every year the chocolates and gift cards that we receive we simply pass on to others. We are grateful, but see ourselves as already blessed by the Divine just by having the chance to treat those who need us. If we have the opportunity to do what we love, how can we expect further rewards?

For example, Professor T is himself a beautiful gift shared with us. (I have asked his permission to write a few words about him in my Whispering of Willows). His humor, compassion, and wisdom often make us smile and always touch our hearts.

He is a brilliant learned man from the former Soviet Union. Although almost 80 years old, he still has a childlike face and glistening eyes. His voice is a little hoarse. He said once when he was talking with someone on the phone, the person mentioned: "You certainly have a peculiar voice."

He laughed and replied: "Wait until you see my face."

The first time he came to see us, I asked what I could help him with; he giggled, "A brain transplant is I need. Do you perform such a surgery here?"

When I inserted a needle into his forehead, he said seriously, "My Lord! Be careful, it is empty there, the needle may pierce through from one end to the other!"

Every time he comes, there is a riot in the clinic. Dr. Wang is normally reticent, but whenever this man is around, he shows his true colors; the two of them laughing and singing aloud, making a racket. Sometimes they sing "Katyusha", or "The Hawthorn Tree", or " Evenings in Moscow's Suburbs "…. Their laughter brings our clinic to a boil. Working with another patient at the same time as Professor T is with Dr. Wang, I worry my patient might be disturbed by their fun, so I often close my treatment room tightly. However, once a patient even asked me to open the door saying curiously: "Their laughter is so infectious, I wonder whom is Dr. Wang treating right now?”

Immediately the old man chortled his reply: "Undoubtedly he is treating an alien!"

Dr. Wang's deep tissue massage sometimes can be painful as if he is torturing his client, resulting in some patients joking: "Ok, Ok, Dr. Wang, what secret do you wish to know? I confess! I confess!"

But the professor chuckled: "Okay, okay, I behave! I behave!"

He and Dr. Wang joke that they were old Bolsheviks. When the two are saying goodbye, they both stand at attention and salute each other. The serious and humorous scene is really hilarious.

Meanwhile, it is this man who printed out posters with his own computer, trying to promote our clinic. He posted one in the gym he frequents and got a lecture from the gym staff, who made him peel it off; it was he who hurriedly went to his optometrist announcing to her that he had discovered a clinic able to treat eye diseases; it was he who copied our business cards and sent them to all of his friends; it was also he who took the initiative to write us a beautiful google review…

He did all this without even telling us what he did.  When we finally found out about it and thanked him, he just shrugged: "This is what I love to do; I want people to know so they can share my good fortune having run into such a special clinic in Vancouver."

For us, it is really so fortunate to have the opportunity to treat such people, for they are not only our patients, they are also our teachers.

Two days ago, after finishing my treatment for an Indigenous senior, she did not say much but clasped her hands in front of her chest. As she was leaving, at the door, she turned around and clasped her hands again, making our eyes moist.

Yesterday, a little girl hopped in, handing us two muffins, looking up at us with her smiling little face and said, "My dad and I just baked them. Eat, they are still hot!”

Today a medical doctor came from afar to see us. When we met, he said: "I have helped heal thousands of people in my life, but this is the first time I am asking for help. I chose you because of the special energy in you and in your clinic…”

When he left, he paid us American dollars (the first time someone paid us U.S. dollars!). When we were about to give him his change, he simply said, "Just consider it a donation to your clinic."

Such small surprises and episodes leave us feeling that a year of hard work was absolutely worth it. What other gifts could we expect?

And sometime we ought to give ourselves a gift.

An overworked mother always on the go taking care of her husband and two children, while also working full-time, said she wanted to get herself a gift this year and asked me if I had any suggestions.

I replied without thinking: “Give yourself thirty minutes of solitude every day; that is the best gift you can give to yourself.”

Without solitude, how can one find balance in life and within oneself?

Solitude is the best rest.

Solitude is the reservoir of energy.

Solitude is your inner bank.

After all, what better gifts than these are there?