RE-DIPPED

I have been traveling a lot in the past 2 months…some for family, some for fun with friends and a trip to get, what a lot of us in the chiropractic profession call,”re-dipped”.

There is a phenomenal chiropractic seminar in California called Cal Jam that I am able to attend for continuing education and license renewal.  There are seminars all over the country, even some really close to home, however I choose to go and spend my time with the best of the best and have sought out a couple venues to keep on my regular schedule every year.

Cal Jam always exceeds expectations and this year was no exception.Fenton Chiropractor Cal Jam

Some of my nearest and dearest friends and I all decided we would meet there this year, get hotel rooms together and be able to spend some time catching up in between listening to the speakers.

Chiropractors are kind of a strange breed to begin with.  We have some really “wacky” ideas about the body’s incredible ability to heal, a philosophy that guides our profession and gives us framework for life, living and all things natural, we help people through the use of our hands, we practice what we preach and most of us absolutely love what we do.  Put a few thousand of us in one huge theater, add in a little music, and the positive energy is palpable.  For me, add to that some of my nearest and dearest friends, that also love what I love, and I feel revitalized, rejuvenated, re-energized…”re-dipped”.

The line-up of speakers was top notch; Joe Dispenza, Brenden Burchard, Garrett Gunderson, Jeanne Ohm, Barbara Loe Fisher just to name a few…some of the greatest in the profession and others that present on topics that compliment our profession.

When the days come to an end, we gather as groups and invade the local restaurant scene to “talk it down”.  Our conversations range from the topics the speakers have presented, how our practices are going, business and money matters, family, travel plans, matters of the heart and so on.  There is often roaring laughter coming from these conversations and in a small way, that positive energy that was palpable during the day flows out the doors of the theater, down the streets and into the local establishments.

Have you ever been around positive energy and felt your energy lift?  I assume we have a small effect on the wait staff that is serving us, the bar tenders that are pouring the wine and maybe even the people that are sitting around the tables next to ours…or maybe it is bigger than we think…Really tune into this YouTube clip around the 2:20 minute mark…she happens to be one of the people sitting at one of the restaurants while I was there last week.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at6NsWoYGBI[/youtube]

“They look very happy, that’s all I know…”  she says.  I just love this glimpse into what kind of effects are happening due to positive energy.  Happiness is contagious…being positive is contagious.  Give it a try sometime.

I love to travel.  Actually the process of getting to a place is not very glamorous with packing bags, driving to the airport, making it on time, lugging heavy suitcases around, dealing with security, sitting on the plane next to strangers for long hours, finding the rental car place, dealing with getting all the way to the destination, checking in…none of that is what I would call “fun”.

However having a change of scenery, seeing new places, learning new things, meeting new people, exploring new areas both physically and mentally…I FREAKIN’ LIVE FOR THAT!!!  Something about all of that gives me a fresh start almost like pressing a “reset” button.  Then when it has anything to do with the profession that I love so much, with people that love what I love, and the philosophy that I live in, there is nothing better than getting “re-dipped” and returning home to serve at a higher level.  And yes, yes we are all really, really happy.

 

 

“OK”, “EH”, “NOT BAD”

I get to serve a lot of people at my chiropractic office and many of them I have seen for many, many years.  This is not everyone, but this is a taste of how some of the conversations begin…

Me:  “How are you?”    Them:  “Eh…”

or

Me:  “How has your week started?”      Them:  “It’s ok.”

or

Me:  “Has you had a good day?”     Them:  “Eh…”

or

Me:  “Has your week started well?”      Them:  “Not bad.”

or

Me:  “What are your plans for this beautiful evening?”    Them:  “Not sure.”

 

I am by no means saying that these are not perfectly acceptable answers to my rather regular questions, it is absolutely ok to say whatever you feel like.  The reason I am bringing this up is because some of these people say the same things over and over for YEARS!  When I say that, I really mean they have been un-excited about life for as many years as I have known them.  It almost

 seems like they live Monday through Friday just to get to the weekend.  Then when I ask them how their weekend went, they say “Eh, it was ok.”  REALLY?!?!?!?!  WHAT GIVES???

    LIFE IS LIFE.  Sometimes there isn’t anything real “exciting” going on, no cool vacation to look forward to, didn’t win the lottery recently, no brand new home to move into, still driving the same old car, no crazy shopping spree to go on…nothing exciting at all.  Ever thought for a moment that what happens on a regular daily basis is ENOUGH to get excited about?

Life is absolutely filled to the brim with mundane, routine stuff.  As human beings we have to get up in the morning, it is probably a really good idea to eat breakfast and take a shower and most will be get ready for work (either inside the home or outside the home) or school.  We will then put ourselves in a vehicle of some sort and transport ourselves somewhere where we will spend the next 8-12 hours (1/3-1/2) of our days doing something to earn a living.  During that time we will probably take a break for lunch, maybe find a lunch buddy to chat with and then go back to work or school (even if you are at home raising a family, there is probably a routine you fall into).  We will more than likely jump back in a vehicle of some sort and drive ourselves back to the place where we started our day, find a little more food, maybe get some sort of exercise in, brush our teeth and lay down for the night to rest only to get up and do the same thing all over again the next day…and the next day…and the next day.  Ugh, just writing that sounds like a drag.

But...LIFE IS LIFE!!  What if you started your day with the idea that “gosh it is really good to wake up on the top side of the grass!“?  What if that is the attitude you began the day with…an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE for even getting another day to live?  What happens if you sat a few extra seconds and decided to actually TASTE and EXPERIENCE your breakfast?  What textures are there?  What tastes are happening in my mouth?  It is so neat that I can eat a bowl of cereal and it becomes muscles, tissues, organs and glands!  Then when you are in the shower…how about really feeling and experiencing what it takes to clean your body.  How does the water feel?  What smells are present?  Or just be grateful to have clean, fresh, warm water to bathe in everyday!  

If you let it, the drive to work will take on a life of its own…so many things to look at inside and outside of the vehicle.  This time of year the leaves are changing and it is beautiful!  And suddenly we are grateful for the stop lights and stop signs because they make us pause and have a moment before moving forward and that can become a moment to give thanks for the good ‘ol car that you get to drive everyday.  Once at work, instead of dreading all the filing you have to do, the emails you have to return or the annoying people you have to deal with…take a glance out to what is the big picture of what you are doing on a daly basis.  Can you count the number of lives you have effected just because you do the work you do?  How are you serving others?

The drive home, exercise, stopping in for your chiropractic adjustment, getting dinner, spending some time with your family and then hitting the sack for another night of rest to be able to recharge to do it all again tomorrow…they all take on a new meaning if we become a little more present and show just a smidgen more enthusiasm while doing them.  When you are asked “how was your day?” after you spent a day like that, you will actually want to say “IT WAS GREAT!  For what it was, it really was great!”  Now that doesn’t mean that other people’s day wasn’t 100 times more fun than yours, according to your perception…but in the grand scheme of things, their day doesn’t matter and there is absolutely no reason to try to compare your day to someone else’s day.  It is YOUR LIFE and this LIFE full of mundane-ness is going REALLY FREAKIN’ QUICKLY!!!  We are here to do this one time and I cannot figure out one good reason to not get excited about the mundane-ness and routine-full-ness…because 90% of what we do on a daily basis is exactly that.

So think about the concept of SUPER EXCITING, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, REALLY FUN, AWESOME, BREATH-TAKING, PULSE INCREASING, HAIR RAISING, TERRIFICALLY FANTASTIC mundane-ness.  It exists.  Trust me, I know.  The key to it, its a conscious choice you get to make  Enjoy yourself, every day of your life…and consider this a triple-dog dare to you to have some fun going through your routine tomorrow…and then let me know how it goes.  If you are able to make a small shift, you will notice something about life…that it is REALLY, REALLY GOOD.  I would love to hear your stories.  🙂