dynamic – Page 4 – We Only Get One Chance

I AM HONORED

I am honored.

Getting “written up” as a child was not such a good thing. Getting “written up” as an adult is quite a compliment. I am honored to be part of a Today’s Chiropractic Leadership online in a section called “Innovators and Entrepreneurs”

To read the article, click >>>THIS LINK<<<

I am honored to be acknowledged in the same section and on the same page as some of my greatest mentors.

I am honored to be considered worthy enough to grace the pages with some of the greatest and most influential world changers.

I am honored to be on the same page with some of my good friends and colleagues.

I am honored to be respected and acknowledged by LIFE University, the world’s largest and most influential college in the chiropractic profession.

I am honored to be able to serve Fenton, the community I grew up in.

If you are reading this, I am honored to be part of your life in some way big or small.

I am honored that you have allowed me to serve your family and check and adjust your babies.

I am honored I have been the one called to your bedside as your are delivering your babies or are within minutes of bringing them into this world because you understand how important that first adjustment is.

I am honored to be part of such an incredible profession, one that assists with core healing from deep within.

I am honored with every single referral you send and have sent my way.

I am honored to be chosen as an instrument to facilitate healing and be able to use my head, hands and heart as my tools.

I am honored to own and run my beautiful office Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic.

I am honored to have such an incredible team working with me on a daily basis.

I am honored that my own family visits me to get their spines checked on a regular basis.

I am honored to be your chiropractor.

HUMILIATED

I am absolutely humiliated!

A patient walked into the Cafe of LIFE last Wednesday afternoon and asked me where I was earlier that day and why I wasn’t here when my office hours said I would be here.

“What do you mean? I am always here for our office hours Wednesday morning is 7:30a-10a.”

“That is not what your business card says.”

When we looked closer, our business cards have our office hours as “7:30am-1pm”. For months.

Sometimes when reviewing a proof for those kinds of things, the brain will look at something, skim right over an error and make up something completely different. That is exactly what happened.

So in essence it has looked like we just high-tail it out of here whenever we feel like it on Wednesday during that time slot. And if you know me like most of you do by now, I would NEVER do that.

She continued, “Yeah I was talking to my mom and she said ‘well she must just come and go as she pleases.’ You really don’t seem like that kind of a person to me.”

Um…I am NOT that kind of a person and I am not that kind of professional! I feel a lot of responsibility to all of you and there are a lot of people that rely on us. I was born with punctuality and responsibility woven into my fabric, that is just how I am.

So needless to say we looked over all our thousands of card that I ordered just a couple months ago and realized they were all wrong. In the meantime, every person that has come into this office, we always tell them, “Make sure to grab a card at the front desk, our hours are on the back.”

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I am seriously humiliated.

Yes I am only human and there are humans involved in the making and printing process of these things and mistakes can happen.

And by now I am sure you can imagine just how very GRATEFUL I am to this lady who brought this mistake to my attention!!!

The last thing I want to do is look like a slacker, and especially when I am not.

To all of you out there reading this that we may have confused and misled, I apologize and am so humiliated. Live and learn, right? You can bet I will have many different sets of eyes on all future materials like that.

SAILING THE SCENE 2016

My good friends that I often travel with and I spend a bit of time during our holiday travel together to set intentions for the New Year and come up with a rhyming theme. We finalized this year with intentions of “Sailing the Scene 2016″.
I am not sure why we feel it so important to rhyme the theme as that limits options for words used, however we always seem to be up for the challenge and come out on top year after year!!!
We had been just a couple days on the boat, and watched the sail boat take a Universal Force, the wind, and set sails appropriate to make it to the desired destination, and we absolutely knew right then and there that the word “sailing” had to be part of our theme. Life throws us all kinds of twists, turns and unexpected weather and gusts that throw a curve ball into our original plan regularly, or at least it does for me. It also can appear that every move and turn we make we are heading into the wind. Such is life!
What sailing taught all of us is that we need to use whatever external forces that seem to be working against us, and if we just change the configuration of our sails, change the angles or the heights, we can figure out a way to use that external force in our favor.

Whether we realize it our not, we have all set up “the scene” that surrounds us. Consciously or unconsciously, we have chosen the people we surround ourselves with, the work we do, the home we live in, the car we drive, the thoughts that run through our heads, as well as all other circumstances that make up our scene. Look around you…at some point that person, place or thing seemed like a good idea (or maybe was just the lesser of two evil choices). So here we are in the environment we created. That is the “the scene” we are talking about.

Now, take another look around you and ask yourself this question, “What am I resisting in my scene and how am I resisting it?” Is it a job you don’t like? Is it a relationship that doesn’t flow? Is it a body that you are not particularly fond of? Is it a home environment that is filled with chaos? What is it? What is around you that you have resistance to? And maybe you don’t have any of those things, although most of us could name one or two…or twenty.

“Sailing the Scene” means to take a different and more graceful perspective or make a slight change in your course. Instead of feeling “stuck” in a situation, a relationship, a job, a body where it always feels like you are working with a 30 naught
headwind, what if you took a different angle. To turn 180 and head downwind would be one solution but life doesn’t often allow us to take a 180 degree turn and head the other direction. Usually we could more easily “tack” or head in a slightly different angle into the wind. This allows the sails to catch the wind a little bit differently and use it to the advantage in getting to the desired destination. And when we make just a slight angle change to our normal day to day, 2-3 days leads to 2-3 weeks and then on to 2-3 months or years and we have real potential of making a desirable change in our lives and creating a more likable scene.

“Tacking” also is a way of taking the Universal Force of the wind and let it help you get to the desired destination. It is a way to work with it instead of fighting against it and allowing it to really work for you.

“Sailing the Scene 2016” is all about taking all of life and all of every day and starting to adjust our view, our perspective and/or our course in order to get life to be a little more cooperative, or really maybe we are the ones being more flexible and cooperative with life. Either way, sailing is one of the most peaceful experiences and I am looking for more of that this year. Cheers to 2016!!!

TOUR OF THE SAILBOAT

Many of you know that I spent 10 days over the holidays on vacation on a sailboat, Yacht Emily Morgan. It was an incredible experience with amazing friends and even more amazing hosts and I will be writing a few blog posts about the week but I wanted to start with a tour of the sailboat so you have an idea, a foundation, from where I will be writing my posts from. I want to give you the visual of the entire scene and experience. Enjoy this clip!!!

Without a tour of the sailboat, your mind may try to make visions to fill in details of the what was happening. I would prefer you have more of a complete view of the ship and the scene as we go along here. Stay tuned for so much more!!!

SUGAR

It starts with Halloween and ends with New Years Day….SUGAR, SUGAR EVERYWHERE!!! Notably this is also considered “COLD AND FLU SEASON”. Guess what? Sugar is a major factor in decreased immune system function and when that happens, the “invaders” (viruses and bacteria) have a chance to take over.

Let’s learn some physiology…
White blood cells are a HUGE PART of your functional immune system. They travel through the body and convene around areas of “invaders” and do some clean-up work. White blood cells need Vitamin C in order to activate and do their job of phagocytosis (in essence “eating up”) of the viruses and bacteria. Sugar and Vitamin C have a very similar structure and compete for the same activation/binding site on the white blood cells. If sugar is around, Vitamin C doesn’t get to do its normal work and your immune system becomes compromised. When you decide to eat sugar, you can think of your immune system becoming a slug and slowing down to a crawl…every year…around this same time and going all the way through the New Year.

Certain minerals are required in order to process the sugar you eat. Because refined sugar doesn’t contain those minerals, chronic ingestion of sugar can lead to depleted levels of essential minerals in the body which creates further problems and compromises health.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO TO KEEP A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM?
Great question!!! Let’s take this little bit of awareness in to this holiday season and see how making a few better choices in what you put on your plate and in your mouth can have a drastic effect on your energy levels and immune system function.

WAYS TO BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM:

Drink lots of water
Eat your vegetables
Get plenty of rest
Exercise/move your body daily
Take your vitamins
Steer clear of sugar
Steer clear of alcohol
Keep up with your regular chiropractic care
Get outside for some fresh air
Laugh often and take some time to play
Keep a positive mental attitude

The nerve system and immune system are interconnected (some will say they are the same – neuroimmuno system). When the nerve system is compromised, so is the immune system. REGULAR CHIROPRACTIC CARE will help maximize your potential for health by keeping your nerve system clear and your immune system strong. Swing in to the Café of LIFE Chiropractic Center! We would love to help you and your family have a wonderful, HEALTHFUL holiday season!!!

LIVING FULLY

To me, living fully is the most important concept in running my daily life.

If I get an invite somewhere, I take it.

If I get an opportunity to do something, I say yes and make it happen.

If I have an idea, I try it on and see if I can make it work.

To live fully is to take every opportunity to say “yes” and explore life!

When we got orders to go to Anchorage, Alaska, the decision was literally made on a “why not?” philosophy. Why would we go? Why not! I have to tell you it was one of the most incredible experiences that has shaped my entire life from that point forward. Going back to revisit was amazing.

Humans get involved in analysis paralysis, stuck in our thoughts and in our heads. We think too much and it stunts our movement forward. I want to challenge you when the next opportunity presents itself, see if you can answer it with a “YES!” instead of thinking too much (of course as long as it is safe and reasonable). Take the opportunities that help us live fully. We only get once chance to live this life. Let me know how it goes!

LUCKY

I was a lucky kid. I got my spine checked and adjusted by a chiropractor for as long as I can remember. I went to an office right here in town where CRUST is located right now. My mom took my brothers and I at least once per month to make sure we were growing and developing normally.

This morning I started a woman under care that is 82 years old. She was an absolute delight and she got talking about this “old chiropractor that used to be right downtown Fenton” that she used to go to and take her children when they were growing up.

It just so happens to be the same chiropractor that my family went to.

I have to share the story she shared with me. You all know we see a lot of children at Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic however sometimes I don’t get a chance to really share much of the “WHY” we see children.

She started off with a story of her son, when he was 10 years old, decided to parachute off the neighbor’s roof using an open umbrella. Mary Poppins flew around with an umbrella and everyone can probably see exactly why a child might try to make that happen.

This young man came crashing down and fortunately wasn’t hurt too badly…or so they thought at the time.

The very next morning this young boy woke up and couldn’t talk. He could move his mouth but no voice or sound would come out. They immediately went to see their medical doctor. That doctor ran all kinds of test on this young boy, all tests were negative. They sent him home with breathing treatments and some sort of cough syrup. While he was on breathing treatments and syrup, he was able to do some talking but it had to be a constant daily regimen. It never resolved it, just kept symptoms at bay. After some time, the medical professionals recommended surgery to help this issue however they only gave them 50/50 chance of regaining his voice and the other half was losing his ability to vocalize completely.

Mom started wondering “how am I going to tell this 10 year old boy that he cannot talk much and cannot talk loudly and to save his voice?”

Her chiropractor at the time mentioned that maybe she should bring him in and see if he could help with this issue.

“Talking and voice issues and chiropractic care?” Ultimately she decided this has to be better than surgery and they would give it a try. Within just a few short months of starting regular chiropractic care, he healed. His voice and ability to vocalize returned to normal.

So how does this work? Children jump and fall and traumatize their bodies all the time. The nerve system is the master control center of the body and is housed within the spinal column. If there is interference in the connection wires of the nerve system, the body cannot heal and grow and develop as normal and all kinds of things can be a little bit “off”. Over time, that little bit “off” can build up leading to further stress and even further diminished communication within the body, and potentially symptoms. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan Umbrella

The nerves in the neck supply all the things in the head, face, shoulders, arms and hands. Guess what? Vocal cords and ability to use your voice is controlled by nerves in the neck. If the nerves are off, thing can go a little haywire. This young man had interference in the nerves in the neck even though he did not fall and land on his head.

The bottom line is the body works better with a good nerve supply. Does chiropractic care fix voices? No, we help normalize the body and allow it to heal. Chiropractic care was discovered when an adjustment restored hearing to a man that had gone deaf. Does that mean chiropractic care cures deafness? No, not a chance. We are always assisting the body to do its job better…all of its jobs.

I feel so lucky to have been checked and adjusted since I was little. If you ask all of my brothers, they would say the same thing and are choosing the same for their children right now. Fortunately for me, I get to care for those precious littles since we all live close to each other.

If we take care of the spine in the younger stages of life, there is a higher potential of growing, healing and developing normally and that is why we see so many children at the Cafe of LIFE. I loved this woman’s story because I think we all know a child or were a child that thought we could fly or at least wanted to give it a try!! I also love this story because it reminded me of where my love for chiropractic first started.

I am opening up this conversation to everyone. If you have questions about your children and how chiropractic could help them, reach out and let me help you understand better. Email me at erica@cafeoflifefenton.com. I would love to hear from you!

THE TIME WE HAVE

This short clip is talking about the time we have and is represented in jellybeans. It is a brilliant picture representation of our life.

Watch until the end…profound, profound message about what if today was the only day, what would you do?

Let me know what you think about the time we have, the time I have, the time you have. It is all so very short. I have been attending an online course and realizing actions steps need to be taken TODAY!!! Get out there and make it the kind of day you want! The kind of life you want!!! We only get one chance…

THE MOTH

“I will be on that stage someday” I said to my friend, Ameena, when as we were leaving The Circus Bar in Ann Arbor after “The Moth” StorySlam live event for the first time in early 2014. Ameena sent out a mass Facebook message earlier that day to my Book Club to see if anyone wanted to attend a “story-telling” event in Ann Arbor with her. I had been in the process of studying “The Art of Storytelling” for the past couple years and when I saw it was a live storytelling event, I jumped on the chance to attend.

I do my best to reply “yes” to any invite (within reason) that is thrown my way. I enjoy opening my eyes and mind to new things and ideas, and I tend to get involved in rich, rewarding experiences that start by simply replying “yes”.

Some of you may know of, or already listen to “The Moth”, but let me set the scene.
The Ann Arbor venue holds just over 300 people and all walks of life attend these events. The night consists of 10 volunteer storytellers from the audience. The stories need to be 5 minutes long, true, based on the theme set for the evening, and notes are not allowed. There are 3 sets of judges that are chosen from the audience and there is a Chiropractor Fenton Michigan The Moth 2 “winner” that advances on to a larger venue and then on to the “Moth Ball“, a huge event in New York City. While people are telling stories, a warning whistle blows at 5 minutes. Once 6 minutes has passed, another longer whistle blows and points can be deducted due to time. There is an awesome host or hostess that MC’s the evening and weaves their own stories in and around the storytellers as well as sharing “micro-stories” that the audience members have written out.
Throughout the evening, the stories are being recorded; both video recorded as well as audio and “The Moth” shares these stories on NPR, Michigan Public Radio and their podcast that is broadcasted everywhere.

The event happens monthly and I only missed a couple in the past year. I have also been listening to the podcast regularly and look forward to every new episode. Humans are so interesting and everyone has a story to tell. Because I have been on the hunt for rich, rewarding experiences in my life, I have some really cool, fun, awesome and interesting stories, a few of them brewing for the opportunity to match up with a theme at one of these events.

The StorySlam in December happened just before the holidays and while I was in Ann Arbor that night, it came to my attention that the theme for January would be “cold”. PERFECT!!! One of my stories finally matches up!!! That night I committed to getting myself up on that stage in January.

So I began to rehearse my story. I rehearsed it over and over and over, probably about 30 times to my empty house over the month. There was not a lot of feedback when I performed my story to my empty couches, but it allowed me the chance to get details figured out and hone in my words.
The event was on a Tuesday and was drawing near. As the days ticked by, I became more and more nervous. I do well in front of crowds once I get up there, but the time leading up to it can be absolutely overwhelming with nausea from nerves.

Monday that week, I am going through my regular day at Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic and when I would have a moment to think about getting on stage the next day, I would make myself sick. Monday night I could hardly sleep. Tuesday I woke up a little tired and my day was busy as usual. It didn’t help that these nervous feelings were taking over my body. I was getting myself so worked up about it I reached out to a friend. His reply, “If you get there tonight and you feel like doing it, then do it. If not, then who cares!”

Right.

I realized in that moment that it was my perfectionist nature that was creating the stress and if I just let it go and decided to be my imperfect self, I could settle some nerves and step into a powerful place of vulnerability.
I also knew I didn’t have a choice in the matter that evening…this was my evening to make it happen and to live more fully, I just couldn’t let this chance pass me by.
I practiced my story 4 more times on my ride down to Ann Arbor. I walked into the place, signed the rights away on my story and took my seat. A friend had gotten food for me and a little liquid courage which always helps.
The stories started and as they would randomly draw names from the bag, the nerves were so overwhelming, I didn’t know if I was going to implode or explode and decided the only possible way to make it through would be to use my breath to calm me down. I also put a piece of gum in my mouth just so I could stimulate my parasympathetic, relaxation response.

After the first 2 storytellers went, my name was called. I threw the gum out of my mouth, may or may not have said a swear word and up I went.

“YOLO is a trending term. Everyone has been using the concept of “You Only Live Once” that it has been reduced down to these 4 letters. It was 1994, I was 17 years old and I was in love…”

I knew my story was a crowd-pleaser and I knew they would get a kick out of it. I was surprised it was actually easier to tell the story onstage than at home. When I practiced on my own, I didn’t have the response of 300+ people laughing and cheering the story on. Onstage, I could feel all that presence and was also able to remain calm and mindful enough to make my words clear, rhythmical and tell a really good story.

I had a friend record it for me and was able to watch myself on stage and I am proud of what I did.
I didn’t win “The Moth” StorySlam that night but it was a huge win in my life. It was something I wanted to do for over a year and decided to bust through any barriers, physical and mental, and make it happen.

Through the years, I have decided I am not going to be sitting on the sidelines of life and letting experiences pass me by. I often get private messages on Facebook and through email asking me “do you have a terminal diagnosis? Are you dying or why are you making all this stuff happen? What is driving you? What is your motivation?” It is simple…we only live once and my plan is to squeeze as much juice out of my days, weeks, months and years as I possibly can.

That Tuesday night is only the beginning of my time onstage at “The Moth”. I am not sure it will be easier the next time I do it. What I do know is that I did it, I went to battle with the perfectionist that lives inside of me and won, I found some strength sharing my story standing in vulnerability, I survived and made it out the other side more fully alive, That is what life is all about.

GRATITUDE

The month of November is such a great time to bring our focus back to gratitude.
We have a gratitude project happening at Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic this month. There is a gratitude station set up in the reception area and every time you come in, we are asking you take a moment and think of something you are grateful for. It could be something really big or super small. It could be something from today, or something from years ago. Absolutely anything you are grateful for, write it down on a leaf and we have a “gratitude tree” painted on our big windows that you can tape it to.
The only other thing we ask is that you take an extra moment, maybe 5 or 10 seconds to consider what it is that you are grateful for.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tzY6xbzXs[/youtube]

It is one of our favorite activities of the year, literally planting seeds of gratitude in our reception area that grow and flourish. I have to say, honestly, day after day after day of that really builds some incredible energy. With the Thanksgiving holiday right around the corner, what perfect timing!!!
We have had some teachers come in and borrow that idea to take it back to their classroom. I actually got the idea from a friend of mine who did it on their window at home and allowed the entire family to participate.
What are you grateful for?
One Monday, one women said “I have so much to be grateful for, how can I pick just one?”
Take a moment every single day for gratitude. Truly we are blessed beyond what words could express if we really take a good look.
While we are on this topic, I would like to express my gratitude to you for being in my life. If you are part of my practice, part of my family, part my circle of friends, a colleague, someone who is following this blog or a perfect stranger that has stumbled upon this post by chance, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! When I count my blessings, you are one of them and I want to take a moment to express my gratitude.