July 2017 – We Only Get One Chance

THE VALUE OF A DOLLAR

I learned the value of a dollar from a very young age. I come from a hard working family and not a whole lot was just given to us once we had earning potential.

That earning potential started around age 12 with babysitting and by age 14 I was working in our family orchard store.

During high school I worked locally at the grocery store and nights were spent babysitting. In fact, just last week I ran into one of the kids I babysat one summer that helped me earn money enough to pay for half of my 1977 Buick LaSabre ( <<–OH YEAH!!!) , my first car.

I think it goes without saying that the money we earn through our own blood, sweat and tears makes us appreciate what we buy with it even more. The work we do adds massive value to the earnings.

This post is not about earning money…I want to talk about the VALUE OF A DOLLAR…but even more than that, I want to talk about the VALUE OF A LOCAL DOLLAR.

I was leaving my office, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, last night and I was struck by one of the coolest concepts that I have to take a moment and share the details.

I see many local business owners and one was leaving my office at the very end of the night, he was my last patient. This particular guy owns a painting company and does a lot of work for a local restaurant. I also frequent that restaurant as well as have hired this guy to do some work around my building.

So as he was leaving my office last night, I stopped dead in my tracks with this thought…

I am leaving my office and heading to a restaurant for dinner. I sit down and eat great food and pay for it as well as the service there at that establishment. That restaurant needs painting done and so that restaurant takes some of those same dollars and pays this painter to come into their space and do his work for a fair money exchange. Now because this particular painter is so busy and has been for years, he has some regular work to be done on his spine to keep him in tip top shape so that he can keep doing what he is doing for a long time. He comes to my office regularly for chiropractic care and spends some of those dollars he earned painting that restaurant. Then I take some of those dollars he spends on his chiropractic care and I pay my staff for helping me run my office. My staff all live locally (actually born and raised in this area) and go to have incredible food and spend some of their wage at that same restaurant. I am a big fan of that restaurant and so I go back and spend those dollars there as well…and the cycle continues.

Now I use plastic for most transactions in my life, it is just easier to track that way. But let’s say I use single dollar bills to do all of this, and let’s say that the restaurant and that painter do as well. In all actuality, one single dollar could literally travel that loop for years and years to come. Of course some of those dollars need to go elsewhere to keep lights on and supplies stocked and such, but WOW!!! WHAT A CONCEPT!!!

The power and value of a dollar means something to all of us. But I want to challenge you to take a closer look into this concept and just how POWERFUL your LOCAL DOLLARS spent really are. Maybe these people are your neighbors. Maybe they are the owners of your favorite restaurant or hair salon or bike shop or other service location.

This isn’t a rant about where and with whom you spend your money. Not at all. I just wanted to shine the light on how money is energy and the dollar bill isn’t created or destroyed, it is like energy and just changes hands and gets a LOT OF THINGS done!!! When that energy is invested back into the local businesses, it becomes true power for this community.

Fenton is very “small business friendly” and even more so as the years go by. I currently live right downtown and as I walk by the stores and business, I realize my friends own and run those places, real friends and really good people. Fenton is a really cool place to be and in saying all of that, I want to say THANK YOU!!!! to the community for having me and my office as part of it all. As you are going through your days to come, think about the value in a dollar and just how much value we can all contribute to this energy circle right here in this beautiful town.

THIS IS 40

It is almost 3 months into my 40th year and I find my inner voice saying “this is 40” in the back of my head at least a few times per week lately.

I spent a week in Florida over the 4th of July. My travel was hooked to a International Chiropractic Pediatric Association seminar the weekend of July 8-9 but I went down to get a change of scenery the Tuesday prior. I have not mastered the art of “stay-cation” where I just stay home instead of going to work. I take 2 weeks off per year, one at the holidays and one at the 4th of July however I have to leave town to not go into work. It is not possible for me, YET anyway, to just hang out at home and take time off from work. The guilt rules my days and getting on a plane and being away makes it peaceful for me so I am able to relax and let go of the office for a bit.

My most favorite way to start my days on vacation is to put on a swim suit and a cover-up and walk the beach for 1-2 hours. It is a peaceful time of day and the walking helps the energy and thoughts surface organically. In fact, the friends that I often vacation with, began to start asking me what the “song of the day” is because, inevitably, a song would surface in the morning time. There is always a song in my mind however when it is quiet, it gets really loud.

While in Florida last week, my morning routine changed. I still walked the beach but I had to have socks and shoes on. My left foot is still not right from my trek to Mt. Kilimanjaro. If you saw me in my day to day, I am fine and my foot is fine. As soon as I start moving forward deliberately walking, it yells at me. My walk is now a stroll and socks and shoes don’t look cool with bathing suit and swim cover so I wore workout clothes. Which is fine. So I am out there the first morning walking, strolling, on the beach for 45 minutes to start my day. I look down and am in socks and shoes and avoiding the waves as they come to shore, instead of barefoot and walking in the water and my inner voice pipes up “This is 40”.

That bums me out. I realize I just have to let my body rest and my foot will recover but it has really slowed me down.

In these moments, I know the very best thing to do is to start reviewing my current gratitude list to override that little pesky voice inside of my head.

“I have an incredibly strong and healthy body, stronger and healthier than every before. This is 40.”

“I have an amazing chiropractic practice that has been amazing all these 12.5 years it has been open but it is a new level of awesome as I have progressed as a doctor and servant to my community. This is 40.”

“I have outstanding relationships with my brothers and their families and can bring the wisdom I have gained over the years to help guide the littles in my family and offer unconditional love in their lives. This is 40.”

“I have learned so many great, hard, wonderful, nasty, eye-opening lessons in life and love. This is 40.”

“I am grateful to share regular time with my amazing Mom as we have grown to be such allies in life. This is 40.”

“I have found an incredible supportive loving relationship and I am grateful for all the lessons in love up to this point. This is 40.”

“I have come to a point in my life that I realize 100% of what I focus on heads my way so I better keep it positive and fruitful. This is 40.”

“I realize the days, weeks, months and years go by so quickly and have learned to squeeze the juice out of every single day. This is 40.”

“I am more and more grateful for all the little moments during the days that make my heart warm; from serving my patients, to stopping along my morning stroll to take in the beauty of a neighbor’s yard, to the simple hugs from loved ones, to laying down in my bed earlier at night in order to get proper rest to keep my body strong and healthy. This is 40.”

“It is obvious who ‘real’ friends are, who is in my tribe, and to invest in those relationships. This is 40.”

“I realize how fast I got to 40 and I will spend the next 40 years trying to slow life down and smile even more. This is 40”

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3WOUF_cOi0[/youtube]

Trivial things like having to wear socks and shoes while walking the beach can really take us, well me for sure, out of my game. I know and trust the tools I have worked to develop in my life that can change that feeling of being bummed and it all begins with GRATITUDE. This life is not perfect. These days have their own inherent challenges. Life lessons come at us in all shapes and sizes.

But be grateful. Search for that silver lining. For me, even though I had to wear socks and shoes to support my feet while I walked on the beach every morning and every evening, I am grateful I CAN walk and I am grateful to have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and realize it is just a reminder of my journey…for now. This is 40 and I LOVE being 40!!

SERVING OTHERS

The concept of “serving others” lives at the core of my being.

I remember 2 years into private practice at Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic I called my mom and said “So I wake up, eat, go to work, come home and eat lunch, go back to work, exercise, home for dinner and then to bed to get up and do it all over again. Is this all there is?”

I had jobs along the way however being a chiropractor was my first true career and I opened my own practice right out of school. I busted my behind (and still do) to get this thing up and running and 2 years into it I made a realization that this is what I would be spending my years doing and it blew my mind to think that was all there is.

When I say that, I am not ignorant to the fact that many are married with children and running families and doing the same thing, however, our lives are truly filled quite full with time spent at work.

My very next thought was…”THANK GOD I am in a profession serving others.”

Service is my highest heart calling and my life has revolved around that for over 12 years in private practice and a few years beyond that during my internship at school.

It was dinnertime our second day on Mt. Kilimanjaro, we sat down and one of the first comments I heard was “Man, I really wish there was a chiropractor here.”

When I am out and about in my personal life, I do not always offer up front that I am a chiropractor and since it hadn’t some up in conversation yet, not many in that particular crowd knew I was. …well until that very moment anyway.

Day 2 of the trek I still felt yucky, sore, tired and out of it. That is not a place to “serve others” from since my own tank was on empty but it was now sitting in the back of my mind.

I could probably adjust this entire group.

It would do every single person some good in making the trek a success.

It only takes my hands.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHBLWKCPLwU[/youtube]

This thought sat in the back of my mind the following day as we made our way to the next campsite. As we hiked along that next day, or porters would pass us on the trail. As they cruised by us, they all carried about 30 pounds of stuff on top of their heads and I know one carried 30 pounds of my own stuff. This is their job and many had been doing it for years.

From a chiropractor’s eyes, it is so clear to see just how much stress has been placed on their spines and it dawned on me that I should spend any extra energy I have serving them. The 31 women on this trek live good lives and have access to all the care they need at home. This is not to discount their need in that moment but many of our team of porters and guides had never heard of chiropractic and had no concept of what a chiropractic adjustment could do…much less how beneficial it would be to their spines, nervous systems, health and well-being and multiply that by the fact they carry so much weight on their heads on a regular basis.

Our day 3 hike was long and tough. I stopped part way down the trail and adjusted Kelly (my patient/friend that invited me on this trip in the first place) and that led to a couple staff members lining up to get checked. That led to me offering my services to all staff and I opened up a make-shift office outside of the dinner tent, which pretty much just consisted of a chair that the staff could sit in so I could check and adjust their spines.

Many stood back and watched, but some jumped right in with full trust. By serving them, my own energy lifted. This is a usual thing that happens, even at my office here in town. By helping others, I am helped. By helping others to heal, I am healed. By helping others to increase the energy inside their bodies, my energy increases. It is the COOLEST thing about this work I do. Serving others helps me.

It also fills my heart and nothing is more satisfying than what happened the very next day. I was stopped and standing on the side of the trail. One of the guides, that was really reluctant to sit down in my chair the evening before but decided he would in the end, walked up to me and sort of whispered “That ‘thing’ you did to me yesterday, I have been so calm ever since. Do you think you could do that again before you leave?”

Then the following day he stops me as says “That ‘thing’…do you think you could teach me how to do that so I could help my team?”

“Success means we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were used in a way that served others.” -Marianne Williamson

There is serious power in those adjustments, every chiropractic adjustment is powerful and I often wish you all could feel what I feel in my hands. Being able to release healing energy inside of the body to allow people to be stronger, healthier and adapt to the internal and external stresses in their lives better, I would argue it is one of the greatest things in life.

Serving others truly is one of the greatest things in life.

I am blessed and lucky to be spending my days waking up, eating, going to work at the Cafe, coming home and eating lunch, going back to work, exercising, then home for dinner and then to bed to get up and do it all over again the next day serving others.