happiness – We Only Get One Chance

DECEMBER TO REMEMBER

I think I speak for everyone when I say that it seems like we just started 2025 and here we are at the end. I wanted to challenge you to make it a December to Remember.

What do I even mean by that?

Many people are in a waiting period to get the New Year started before they focus on their health. I don’t mean that you are all neglecting yourselves completely, but what I do mean is that many are waiting for January 1st to make some big and powerful changes.

Let’s reconsider this idea and here is why…

Once December starts, we realize that by taking a closer look at our calendar for the month, we oftentimes realize that the entire month is filled to the brim with festivities, fun and family…sometime it is willfully aligned with the obligations and sometimes it is just simply out of obligation.

Soooooo….this also often means that our selfcare and our commitment to ourselves ends up on the backburner waiting to refocus once we hit the New Year.

BUT…once January 1st rolls around, we are sometimes so deep into eating tasty, AND INFLAMMATORY, foods. We have had a little too much alcohol, sugar and other processed foods. We haven’t prioritized hitting the gym, taking walks, yoga, meditation and other things that help improve our health.

We become stagnant and, I don’t know about you, but it can be VERY DIFFICULT to get the ship turned around and heading in the right direction.

We can hit January 1st and have to make MAJOR SHIFTS, or we can really make it a December to Remember and make some simple daily moves now that gets is some serious momentum heading into 2026!

Simple moves can be as simple as this: Drink extra water, walk 20 minute minimum per day, do 15 minutes of stairs inside of your own home, take 5 minutes daily for meditation and stillness, get your workouts put right into your weekly schedule, grab some simple hand weights and start doing some reps, jump rope, clean up your plate by adding a lot more greens and good quality protein, split desert with your partner…so many simple small things- I am SURE you could easily name 10 more.

I urge you to start today or at least by tomorrow. Commit to your health and share some of those healthy activities with your spouse, children, other family members and friends to allow this to be a great MOMENUM-BUILDING December to Remember.

You will be happy once January 1st rolls around and you have already set things in motion. I am simply putting this message out so that awareness is on it and maybe 2026 can get started off on the right foot!

If you have some ideas about what things you can change and want to share below, I encourage you to do so! I want to see and hear your ideas!

We get one chance in this life and what if you considered making this month truly a December to Remember!!!

BIG BLUE – 7 YEARS

We Bought a Big Blue Building… and Turned It Into a Thriving Center for Well-Being 7 Years ago!

On June 14, 2018, we took a leap of faith and purchased this BIG BLUE BEAUTY right in the heart of our incredible downtown. It was bold. It was bright. And it had potential written all over it. Fast forward to today—and that building is now a vibrant Center for Well-Being, full of life, healing, and community energy. We are beyond proud to say that we’re thriving!

This space has become more than just a building. It’s a place where people come to feel better, move better, think more clearly, and reconnect with their health. What started as a dream has grown into a home for chiropractic care, wellness services, positive energy, and meaningful connections. And we’re just getting started!

To celebrate 7 amazing years in our downtown wellness hub, we’re throwing a party—and not just any party. It’s called “Orange You Glad You’re Here?” and it’s going to be as fun and funky as it sounds! Think vintage orange VW buses, fresh oranges, an orange-themed dress code, orange snacks, orange drinks, and enough photo ops to make your social media shine. We’ll also be hosting a trivia game, a fun scavenger hunt, and some exciting giveaways and specials!

What’s even more exciting? Other health and wellness tenants from our building will be joining in the fun too. It’s going to be a full-on community celebration of health, happiness, and the power of showing up for yourself, your family and others. Whether you’ve just driven by 1 million times, you are a longtime patient or new to the neighborhood, we want you here to share in a fun and joyful community celebration.

This celebration is more than just a party—it’s a thank-you to the community that believed in us, supported us, and grew with us. From day one, our goal has been to create a welcoming space where people feel seen, heard, and cared for. Every adjustment, conversation, and step forward we’ve shared with you has helped shape what this building stands for today. We couldn’t have done it without you—and honestly, we wouldn’t want to.

So orange you glad you’re here? We sure are. Join us in celebrating this milestone, our beautiful building, and the amazing community that continues to grow inside it. Here’s to health, connection, and many more years of thriving—together at BIG BLUE!!!

Mark your calendar: Saturday, June 14th 9a-11a

MIDLAND DISASTER RELIEF

Inside of all the ways that life is crazy and busy and shifting on a daily basis, imagine that your home or place of employment was washed out by major flooding and you lost some or everything you owned. Some of the residents of Midland, Michigan experienced just that and I was able to join the Midland disaster relief efforts.

The Michigan Association of Chiropractors put out an email a week ago asking for volunteers to offer their time and services to the disaster relief workers and also the residents that have been effected by the flooding. There is a tent set up at Calvary Baptist Church and School in Midland and volunteer chiropractors are going to be manning the tables there on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 12p-2p indefinitely. If you are in that area, please look for the burgundy tent that is set up and stop in to get your spine checked!

I have had a lot going on in my personal and business life but honestly that stuff never outweighs the LASTING PURPOSE that lives inside of me. Lasting Purpose is a principle that the chiropractic profession was based on and it means “To Give, To Love and to Serve out of our own sense of abundance.”

Many people have asked how I come up with the energy to donate my time like that, my own Lasting Purpose drives me to do it all.

I shared in a couple FACEBOOK LIVE videos a little bit about what is happening up in the Midland, Michigan area. It is truly devastating to know that our “neighbors” have not only dealt with the global pandemic that has been happening and sheltering in place due to executive orders, but also watched as severe flooding was heading their way and trying to rescue items from their homes prior to the damage.

Many of the homes and businesses will never be the same. There were disaster relief workers from all around the country there helping people restore some sense of order and assist in repairing and rebuilding their homes.

It is nice to be a helper and it is extra nice to help the helpers. It is nice to be of service to the community giving the chiropractic adjustment to allow for things inside of their bodies to settle and help them to integrate stresses. It is nice to be barefoot in the grass with my table, my hands, a smile on my face and a couple colleagues by my side helping others. It is truly the magic in this life.

Many have asked how they can help. If you are a chiropractor, grab your portable table and drive up to the tent and set it up and open up your heart. If you are a contractor, I am sure there is someone organizing efforts and so maybe contacting the Calvary Baptist Church would be a good place to start. If you just want to go up and help clean up, I am sure if you just showed up at the church, someone would take you onto their crew. I wish I had all the links to hand out to you and how to get involved. I honestly don’t have the personal bandwidth to find out much more information except I sought out my own way to help.

I have had so so many inquiries about this service mission I just wanted to share. I would encourage you to find some way, even if it isn’t up inside the Midland disaster relief work, to help people.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. ” –Albert Schweitzer

THE SIMPLE THINGS

The joy in life is found in the simple things. This past weekend I accompanied a girlfriend to a party on the lake. Besides my friend, I wasn’t going to know a single person at the party but it seems that when hanging out around the lake, everyone is so friendly that I was sure it was going to be a good time. Something about the lake makes people happy. My understanding of the reason for the party was this couple got married and bought a house without telling anyone until it was over so this was a celebration of both of those things.

My assumption was correct and the party was a blast. The people were fun. The food was good. The house was beautiful. We stayed well into the night. Around 11pm were all chatting around a fire down by the water and Bob, the host of the party, arrived with a small cardboard box of stuff. It turns out that he had a bunch of Chinese lanterns.

Have you seen the movie “Tangled” the animated story of Rapunzel? Someone had recommended it to me so I watched it a few months back. Rapunzel finally had a day outside of the tower and her only goal was to go towards the lights. Every year, on her birthday, when she looked out the window in the evening, the sky would fill up with small lights. Though it was just an animated cartoon, the scene was really, really beautiful. She spent her free day in search of the source of those lights. Those lights were Chinese lanterns released from the people in the village. Fast forward to the happily-ever-after end of the movie is a beautiful scene filled with these lights, so beautiful I got a little choked up.

So you can imagine my delight when I realized that Bob had Chinese lanterns and that I was going to be able to light one and let it float up into the sky. I had no idea those lanterns existed in real life (though now that I googled it, I realize they are not THAT big of a deal) I don’t know if it is the fairytale-like scene that I am delighted by or what but it completely made my night to be able to light one off, actually it made my entire weekend! Its a really simple thing…but finding the joy in the simple things is what life is all about right? Have you found ridiculous joy in something so simple lately?