As the title of this blog suggests Like the Founding Fathers, Ordinary People Can Do Extraordinary Things. The only problem is the sentence needs an ending. To make it complete, it should read: “Like the Founding Fathers, ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they become other centered, utilize their private and public virtues, their integrities, which is to follow their hearts by being empathetic and compassionate, and by using their moral compasses, thoughtfully work toward something greater than themselves, those objectives can be achieved. (Please consult the last blog if further clarification is necessary.)

As I mentioned earlier, our Founding Fathers make a distinction between private and public virtue, suggesting that if one is going into public service and wish to serve their country at the national or local level, in addition to private virtue, all politicians should have public virtue as well. That’s where our nation’s leaders are willing to express their integrity by giving up their selfish interest for the good of their country. They should also feel it’s a real privilege and honor to serve others and their nation.

You need not be involved in as dramatic a situation as was portrayed in the Boston Marathon saga, to practice public virtue. The public at large displayed their public virtue by fully cooperating with the law enforcement officials when they were trying to identify and then capture the two brothers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev   and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who committed the heinous acts of terrorism when they set off the two bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing 3 innocent bystanders and injured over 100, some very seriously.

An excellent example of how a physical therapist, Dr. Bob, used both his private and public virtues, (his integrities), in a non-political setting in treating my osteoarthritis, was when I consulted him to help eliminate some arthritic pain I was experiencing.

I was very curious to learn why my arthritic symptoms manifested itself in my body in the way that it did.

Even though I was fifteen minutes late for my forty-five minutes session, and he had another appointment right after me, nevertheless, he gave me all the allotted time I required to answer my questions and even showed many pictures of the nervous system to help explain the pain I was having in various bony parts of my anatomy.

I felt Dr. Bob and I were in perfect sync, or harmony, the whole time I was seeing him. That’s because he tended to my every question in a most responsive, and caring fashion by responding to each and every one of my questions in an expeditious, yet thorough manner. I knew Dr. Bob followed his personal integrity when Gandhi’s happiness principle was manifested, and we both felt a sense of pleasure and personal satisfaction because of the harmonic interaction that resulted. For it was then where what was thought, what was said, and what was accomplished were in harmony with one another.(please see the earlier blogs for a more complete understanding)

Metaphorically speaking, it was like two souls connecting, where what was produced was greater than the sum of its parts, resulting in my receiving greater knowledge and understanding of my condition and Dr. Bob experiencing the pleasure of realizing he had just contributed to my healing process through his words and actions and, in that way expressed his desire to care for me in the best possible way.

An excellent example of where public integrity entered into the integrity equation was when I asked Dr. Bob if there was anything about his physical therapy practice he disliked, he said, “When his fellow physical therapists continue to have patients come in for treatment when the treatment goals had been reached.”

Because public integrity is being willing to give up selfish desires for something greater than oneself, which would be to discontinue therapy when the treatment goals were reached, rather than have the patient continue treatment and bilk the insurance company for services rendered when therapy was no longer needed.

This is a very real example of ethical malpractice, something that is practiced way too often, here, in our beloved United States of America.