It almost seems trite in the midst of hard times to tell folks to be thankful for the small things in their life. Seems kinda like offering gravy without the turkey, dressing or potatoes.

These are tumultuous times in America and throughout the world. Even more so are they hard on individuals and families. Many Americans have not seen times this hard in their lifetime. And while appreciating even the small things can offer comfort, it seldom offers the hope, strength and endurance needed to not only survive the hard times but to thrive despite them.

Certainly, I’m glad for those things that many of us take for granted like a car, a place to sleep and food to eat. But those things merely get you by. Getting by, though, just doesn’t seem to cut the muster.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for the BIG things, things so big that they’re not things, at all. They’re principles that guide me through life whether the times are good or bad.

Here’s one. I’m glad that I’m an American. Even in these crazy times with the economy and politics, ours is still one of the most stable countries on the planet. When the rest of the world is economically unstable, investors STILL look to the United States as the last safe place to put their money. In the short term, things might not look so great.

But in the long run, we’re still the economic engine for the entire planet. And besides, where else can you so freely express yourself than America. Whether you’re in the Tea Party Movement or the Occupy Wall Street movement, you still have a voice.

Another. We were designed to be healthy, whole and happy. That just means that I can assume that from the moment I was conceived, my basic design was for health and that if I work within certain guidelines, I don’t need to fear sickness, disease and infirmity.

Granted, there are no guarantees of complete health nor freedom from untimely death. But I can assume that I’m supposed to be healthy. And if I do those things for which my body was designed, I will experience the maximum health possible for me.

Oh yeah. Eat better, exercise regularly, get restful sleep every night, develop and maintain a positive mental attitude, and maintain a healthy nervous system.Still another, love. The instruction manual tells us that “Perfect love casts out fear.”

In other words, if you can find a way to love yourself unconditionally and then do the same with and for others, your life will be better. Love and fear cannot exist in the same place at the same time.

When you can live your life and love your life regardless of what is or is not happening around you, fear has no hold over you. I know, that sounds so mushy. But I’m not talking about that mushy lovey dovey love stuff. I’m talking about the very appreciation for life itself and the bigness that brings. You know that “Love thy neighbor as thyself” kind of thing.

Finally, the glory of going on. The football analogy is that you simply don’t stop until the final whistle. There’s a special kind of feeling knowing that you kept going through good times and bad. The satisfaction one gets by knowing that nothing can stop you is sometimes enough to propel you to heights unknown.

I believe that we were each and all designed for greatness and to do great things. And as bleak as things sometimes seem, I’m reminded that it’s always darkest just before dawn.

So in this season of Thanksgiving, I hope you DO appreciate the small things because that keeps us humble. But, I encourage you to give praise and thanks for the big things because those big things are why you and I are here.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Anyway, at a recent DE meeting a friend from Canada used a metaphor that has so many implications that I simply had to share the message.  In a meeting with a new client, my friend held up an acorn and asked “What do you see?”  Obviously, the answer was “An acorn, of course.  Why?”  My friend’s response was “I see an oak tree, a forest of oak trees, a home and furniture and tools all built from the wood of the oak tree.  I see endless possibilities.”  Wow!  What a concept!

My first thoughts were from my perspective as a chiropractor that a person’s health could be fantastic without interference in how their body is designed to work.  Even further, that just as their health could improve, so could their vision of their own life, world and opportunities.

How do you see yourself?  Is it as a single little acorn amongst billions of other seemingly meaningless other acorns or as a potential mighty oak tree providing shade, comfort and opportunities for yourself and countless others.  You were Designed for greatness but delivered as a tiny seed.  You really need just a few things to reach the potential of your Design.  You need to SEE your own potential.  You need to be firmly planted in rich soil.  You need no interference in pursuing that potential.  And finally, you need to actively pursue that potential not necessarily knowing how great you can be but always moving toward your greatness.

Think of the lowly little squirrel.  We all know the squirrel scurries around burying acorns throughout the forest.  ?Does he do this just to be hoarding food for the winter?  Or is he investing in his (and others’) by spreading his own vision of oak trees and forests?

In all you do, whether it’s losing weight, exercising more, finding a good DE chiropractor, reading more, investing more wisely or creating meaningful relationships pursue your potential.  See your bigger picture.  Plant forests.  Most of all, do it daily in every aspect of your life.

Truth is that if you see a chiropractor just for your back pain, you’re really missing the boat and your chiropractor is cheating you out of the greatest benefit of what he/she has to offer you.  And chances are they’re simply giving you what your insurance company is paying for, symptom relief.  Sadly, many chiropractors (all kinds of doctors, actually) sell you lots of stuff you don’t need simply because your insurance company is paying for it.  Sorry chiropractors.  It’s just true.

Let me explain.  Most chiropractors are trained to locate and correct a misalignment in the bones of the spine (vertebra) that is putting stress on a spinal nerve or the entire nervous system.    Because the nervous system is the first system developed in your body and the one that runs everything else, if you have stress on it, your body AND your life is simply not going to work as well as it could.  When that stress is reduced things work better.

Okay, I’ll get to my point.  If you have stress on your nervous system, your body chemistry might be just a little off, your perception of the world around you and your interpretation of things you see and hear might be slightly different than reality.   Have you ever noticed that when you’re stressed, you react differently than when you’re relaxed?  It’s the same concept.

When you’re stressed, you’re in “fight or flight” mode.  When you’re relaxed, you’re in fulfillment mode. When you get adjusted (especially at the top of the neck) your body relaxes and moves toward that fulfillment mode.  That’s when you think more clearly and can focus on things much bigger than your physical symptoms, like your life goals and reason for being.

When you’re finally able to think bigger thoughts, you begin to see the world as it is instead of merely how you are.  The cleaner your filter on the World becomes, the clearer your thinking becomes.  When that happens, another new world of possibilities opens to you.

If you’re not under chiropractic care or if you’re chiropractor is more focused on your symptoms than your life, let me know.  I’ll help you find one that will help you begin to open yourself to a whole new way of thinking and living.  Clear.

I was really bummed out until I started thinking about our relationship.  Linda had been referred to me by her husband whom I had met at the Chamber of Commerce.  He heard me talk about chiropractic and HBP and heart problems.  Linda had had a congenital heart defect.  At best, Linda was a 95 lb (probably 85 lb) weakling.  Her wrists and ankles were no bigger around than a corn stalk.

When she started, she complained of fibromyalgia and had a hard time walking any distance without tiring out.  She could not go to her Mary Kay conventions without a wheelchair and someone to help her.  Eventually, she shed the wheelchair but kept the meetings.  Her fibromyalgia mysteriously disappeared.  She was a sweet, cheerful little room that added light to my life and those around her.

Oh.  Linda had been under another chiropractor’s care in the past.  She wondered why I would adjust only one or two bones while her previous DC seemed to “click” every extremity joint and articulation of her spine.  Should loved our Principles and the beauty and simplicity of what we do.

While I’m sad at the loss of my friend and client, I know where the “other side” is for her AND that her life was improved for the few years we shared because of chiropractic.

Simply put, chiropractic works.  I never doubt it.

Let’s take a look and see who is right, me or my detractors.  I know I’m right.  I just feel the need to give my detractors a crack at being right.

When I first started getting adjusted 22 years ago, I had health insurance and gladly used it to pay for my care.  But, it wasn’t long after that that I became self-employed and no longer had a third party paying for my adjustments.  So, I did what any intelligent, red-blooded American man would do, I married my chiropractor and have not had to pay for my adjustments since!

After seeing and experiencing the wondrous benefits of getting checked by a chiropractor on a regular basis (and seeing it work on my own kids) I decided to become a chiropractor.  The joy and miracles I’ve experienced as a result of that decision are sometimes difficult for me to express in words.  My kids are healthy, happy and strong and have never worried about sickness or disease.  Neither have had a single vaccination (well, until my son entered the Army) nor dealt with chronic or infectious disease as a result.  And, I’ve not even taken an aspirin for the problem that led me to get adjusted in the first place.

Early in my own chiropractic career, I decided that I wanted to make this thing afforded and accessible to virtually everyone.  You see, I’m what’s called a DE chiropractor.  We understand that the world would be a better place if EVERY family could realize the benefits from chiropractic that my family has.  Some of my early mentors, including Drs Bob Sottile, Jim Sigafoose, Sid Williams and Richard Santo always posed the challenge “Make your care affordable and see lots of people”.  That was a formula that I could understand and embrace.

So, that’s what I did.  Like I said earlier, we charge a low monthly membership fee of $69.  It’s a little more for a couple and a family.  My thinking was not necessarily to make it “cheap” but to have a fee that someone would be willing to pay every month for the rest of their life.  In my case, if I had been paying just $69 a month, I would have paid over $18,ooo!  EIGHTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!  What if I had a hundred clients doing that or two hundred, three or five?  Do the math!

I wonder how we could transform the chiropractic profession from a bunch of insurance chasing back crackers to an army of folks helping families live fuller, happier drug-free lives?  What a wonderful place America (and the World) would be if we could help get millions fo families off drugs and on life!  I’m thinking $69 a month just might change the World!

One of the things I hear all the time from folks that have been with me for a long time is “You know, since I’ve been getting adjusted, I seem to know when things aren’t right.”  Another thing I love to hear is “I feel better about asking my doctor questions these days.  I wouldn’t have done that before.”

I wish that more people knew what chiropractic really is.  Obviously, lots of folks (maybe most) think it’s a drug-free, non-surgical approach to correcting chronic back pain.  Sure, it works for that.  But really, chiropractic is first a philosophy.  A philosophy whose premise is that all things are organized, whether living or inorganic.  In living things that organization is responsible for keeping you healthy and performing at your maximum potential.  Watching that principle play out in my life and the lives of those who use my service is one of the most awe inspiring experiences in my life.  The philosophy of chiropractic is “Why” we do what we do.

Chiropractic is also a science.  As such, we understands how it works.  We know that that organization I just mentioned flows over the nervous system and that any interference or disruption in how the body and brain communicate will affect how your body functions.  We call that a state of dis-ease.  If that communication is allowed to persist, eventually dysfunction can become disease that eventually leads to symptoms and death.  The science of chiropractic is “What” we do.

Chiropractic is also an art.  Every practitioner has their own way of expressing the art of chiropractic.  It’s our technique and mental approach to what we do.  It’s the “How” of what we do.

My kind of chiropractor is most concerned that you understand your body.  I want you to KNOW that you were designed perfectly and capable of adapting to most of life’s challenges.  And mostly, I want you to trust your instincts.  After all, “What’s better than trusting yourself again?”

After everything was done, we stepped back to admire our handiwork.  That’s when my buddy said “It’s crooked.”  I replied “What?  How could that be?  You saw the level balance perfectly!”  I had downloaded an app called 3D Level for my new smartphone and used it to make sure the white board was perfectly level.  After checking 3 or 4 more times, we realized that the level had worked perfectly.  The problem was the tiny (almost undetectable) little bumps on the side of the phone for volume control.  Although tiny, it was just enough to affect what the level was perceiving.  And over the 4 foot width of the white board it was very apparent.

Right then, it hit me like a brick.  That’s EXACTLY what happens when we have a misalignment of the top bone in the neck.  While we don’t really notice it, that slight misalignment puts pressure on the nervous system at the brain stem.  That affects the feedback your brain gets from your body.  It can cause all sorts of problems like vertigo, high blood pressure, headaches and all sorts of weird symptoms.  And even though your brain might be sending the right instructions for the input it’s getting from your body, if that feedback is not quite right, neither will be your brain’s response.

And while that little tilt in the white board won’t affect the message that I’m trying to convey to my clients, it WILL affect how they view the board.  That same scenario works in your life and mine and everyone else’s, too.  If you’re off even a little bit, it can affect how you view your whole life.  Not only that, it can affect how you respond and adapt to situations in your life.

One other thought.  So much of our health life is affected by various “measurements” like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body temperature, etc.  Unfortunately, many treatment protocols are based purely on a single measurement.  What IF either the measurement were not accurate because of “white coat syndrome”?  Worse yet, what if the “measurement” was outside of “normal” range but very appropriate for whatever your body was dealing with at that moment.

My point is, be careful when you measure.  Understand what you’re measuring and why.  Understand that your body’s own innate wisdom is always on the ball.  And remember the old carpenter’s rule of thumb “Measure twice.  Cut once.”

But, Pete seems to have stumbled onto a miracle cure for his “ADD” while improving his productivity “at least a hundred fold” as he says.  Pete recently got an Apple iPad.  Not being an Apple user (yet) I’m not sure exactly how this new computing device has helped him so much so fast.  Pete will tell you that the training package he bought with his iPad (from PeachMac in Marietta, GA) has opened new vistas that he had never considered before.  He says that now, he no longer has to close a sale because it just happens.

As Pete is raving about his newfound productivity, I’m reminded of what chiropractic really does for people.  I know.  I know.  You think it’s for back pain.  But, what chiropractic really does is take stress off your nervous system so that you and your body are more aware of better ways to live, work and function.  And as you learn how to listen to all the new feedback you get from your body as a result of de-stressing your nervous system, your productivity and health begin to compound to the point that it takes on a whole new meaning.

Every now and then a new invention or discovery comes along that enables tremendous leaps for Mankind.  For me, chiropractic is one of those discoveries.  For Pete, it’s the iPad.

One of the things I really enjoy and appreciate about being a chiropractor is watching how well people’s body performs when they ween themselves off various drugs.  When people start realizing how powerfully they were designed and how effective the body is in dealing with health and healing, they actually get excited and enjoy watching it work.

Your immune system is designed to be a ruthless killer.  When your body is attacked by a virus or bacteria, your immune system will isolate what it does not recognize as being good for the body.  Once isolated, your body’s protective mechanism then attacks the invader, breaks it down into bite-size chunks and uses the remnants to feed and nourish good, healthy cells.  A healthy immune system is ruthless and vicious in nature.  It’s job is to protect and defend you while the innate wisdom of your body continues to operate in a postive manner to help you get most out of your health and life.

However, there are ways that your immune system can be squelched and made less effective.  One way is by taking drugs that suppress your immune function for simple symptom relief.  The very thing we seek for comfort from fever, sinus problems and headaches is the very thing that allows the problem to persist and even worsen over time.  Another thing that can suppress the effective function of your immune system is stress on your master control system or nervous system.  Because your body uses the nervous system for communication, stress can actually reduce that vital communication.  That’s why we see folks under regular chiropractic care having fewer and less severe colds and flu while those under chronic stress tend to have more.

If you want your immune system to remain a “lean, mean fightin’ machine”, then stay adjusted or find a good Principled chiropractor to include on our health performance team.  You’ll be glad you did.

As much as I love roller coasters, the first time I rode Batman was the last.  I remember thinking while on the ride “Man.  This ride is rough!  I wonder how many people need an adjustment after getting off this thing?”  Apparently, more than I imagined.

My new client only experienced dizziness and nausea.  there have been a couple of reports of people dying of heart attacks after getting off the ride.  Truth is, that is entirely possible.  Not because the ride scared them to death, but because the neck trauma can damage the spinal cord at the level of the brain stem which affects all of your body’s vital functions, including heart rate, blood pressure and breathing.  That’s the part of the nervous system that was damaged when Christopher Reeve (Superman) fell off his horse and Dale Earnhardt hit the wall.

Oddly enough, it only took a simple, gentle adjustment at the top of the neck and my clients dizziness and nausea went away.  For most people, that very same adjustment can help their blood pressure, asthma, vertigo, acid reflux, ADD/ADHD, migraines, even hemorrhoids.  I know it seems strange that something that simple can be so powerful.  But, it is.  You just have to find the RIGHT chiropractor.

So, the next time you leave the amusement park with a sore neck or back, don’t ignore it.  Visit your chiropractor or get in touch with me to find you one.