One of the Greatest Lessons We Learned: Dig Deeper

 One of the greatest lessons Alex and I have learned over the past twenty-one years is this:

When something doesn't make sense, dig deeper.

Ask why.

Then ask why again.

And sometimes ask it a third time….or more.

At first, we learned this lesson because we had to.

When Alex came home after his injury, there was no instruction manual for his particular situation.

The closest comparison we were given was Christopher Reeve. Chris had passed away one  month prior to Alex being injured. I remember one of the medical staff asking if we knew who Christopher Reeve was then saying, “well, Alex’s injuries are worse.”

Ok..what in the world does that mean? 

There were predictions which were pretty consistent…Alex would not ever…the list was long…and there are places where he can go….☹️

But there were also countless situations where the answer wasn't immediately obvious.

Why did his heart rate change?

Why did his blood pressure drop?

Why did one intervention help while another didn't?

Why did something work in one environment but not another?

Why did the same numbers sometimes mean different things?

Over time, we learned that answers often exist underneath the first explanation….sometimes way underneath.

Sometimes what appears to be the problem is actually the symptom.

The real question is:

What is causing it?

What changed?

What is different?

What is happening underneath the surface?

That mindset eventually expanded beyond medicine.

As we began navigating systems, services, waivers, provider shortages, and policies, we found ourselves asking many of the same questions.

Why is this process structured this way?

Why does this delay exist?

Who makes this decision?

What does the rule actually say?

What do the documents actually say?

Not what someone thinks they say.

Not what someone remembers them saying.

What do they actually say?

That distinction matters.

More than once, I have discovered that reading the actual document provides a very different understanding than relying on summaries, assumptions, or secondhand explanations.

Sometimes the answer is sitting right there in the paperwork.

Sometimes it isn't.

But either way, the documents matter.

The details matter.

The underlying reasons matter.

The deeper we dug, the more we realized that many situations are more complicated than they first appear.

What looks like a workforce problem may also be an approval problem.

What looks like an approval problem may also be a policy problem.

What looks like a policy problem may actually reflect assumptions that no longer fit reality.

The same principle applies to medicine.

The same principle applies to systems.

The same principle applies to life.

Keep digging.

Keep learning.

Keep asking questions.

Because understanding the "why" often reveals solutions that are invisible when we only look at the surface.

Over the years, Alex and I have learned many things.

But one of the most valuable lessons has been this:

Don't stop at the first answer.

Dig deeper.

Sometimes that's where the truth is waiting.

#TheGoalIsLife