One of the greatest gifts that democracy has to offer us is the right to vote.  The ability to choose our leaders is one that is envied by many in other types of societies and one that many of us take for granted.  When I turned 18 I could not wait to go to the polls for the first time and cast my vote for the candidates I thought would do the best job for us.  Many of my friends at that time were completely oblivious to the importance of the right to vote and had an attitude that was complacent.  Even today I hear some people saying things like, “What difference does one more vote make anyway?’ and “It doesn’t matter what I think.  The government will keep on running without my input.”  “Voting is a waste of time.”  These same people are the very ones to complain about higher taxes, too many social programs, not enough social programs, lousy infrastructure, or just about anything else that comes to mind.

This past weekend several members of our office staff were in Philadelphia for a conference.  Our downtown hotel was about a 15 minute taxi ride from the remote conference site, so we got the opportunity to meet 8 or 10 taxi drivers, none of whom were from the United States.  I simply cannot bear to ride silently in a taxi, so I always strike up a conversation with the driver.  I like to know where they are from and what brought them here.  The subject of the upcoming election was a popular one for this trip, so I took an informal poll.  With the exception of one, the foreign taxi drivers had planned who they were voting for and had very strong opinions about their chosen candidates.  Regardless of how one might feel about foreign workers making a living in this country, these workers had strong beliefs about what is going on in our country as opposed to the governments in their homelands and were definitely planning to cast their votes on November second.  These people were informed and had deeply rooted reasons for their choices.  Not a single one said that he was voting for a candidate because everyone else is or because his minister said it was a good idea or because he flipped a coin.   All of them knew who they were voting for and why.

Last Sunday morning I was channel surfing in a hotel looking for a local station to give me the weather so that I could plan what to wear for the day.  No fewer than five televangelists were on at the same time and every single one of them were talking about the upcoming election.  Isn’t there supposed to be some rule about the separation of Church and State?  Anyway, these guys were basically telling their congregants who they wanted them to cast their votes for.  What is that about?  Are we not people with the gift of free will and the ultimate choice to do what we think is right and not necessarily what someone dictates to us?

There have been 4 debates.  Three of them involved the presidential candidates and one was between the vice-presidential hopefuls.  Locally we have had forums where questions were asked of the candidates that we are to support at our own level.  Information is available from this newspaper outlining what the candidates had to say for themselves.  Plenty of issues were discussed and enough information was exchanged to give us ideas about which side is the right one for us.  How have you been served by the incumbents?   What have their records been like in years past? Do the ideas and plans of opposing candidates sound as if they will serve you better?  What principles are they willing to fight to defend and which ones are unimportant to them?  How does this match your own life and how will the candidates’ decisions protect your future?  These are just some of the questions to ask yourself before you cast your vote.

There is a saying that if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.  That is very true.  I actually heard someone say last week that an incumbent was doing a good job but that her vote was going to the challenger whose spouse knew someone she knew and liked.  Come on, now.  We should all do our duty and exercise our right to vote, but don’t vote just to vote. If you vote because someone knows the spouse of someone who knows a candidate, that might not be a good reason to vote.  If you vote for a person because someone else told you to, it might not be a good reason to vote.  If you vote for someone because they are paying for you to get a ride to the polls, that too might not be a good reason to vote.  Please vote, but make an informed choice for the candidates which most closely match your own personal convictions.  Find out what is going on in the world.  It affects all of us.  Treat your fellow Americans well.

Last Wednesday started out like any other Wednesday except that I became acutely aware that I was celebrating having been on Earth for 40 years.  I expected to have a meltdown or to develop sudden blindness and new wrinkles on my already sun-drenched face.  I was prepared for my abdomen to fall to the floor or a sudden cynicism to take over my usually bright disposition.  None of that happened.  Many people had waned me that “all hell breaks loose” when you turn 40. There is nothing of the sort to report here.  As a matter of fact, I had so much fun turning 40 that I think I might do it every year!!  I received an incredible outpouring of love and well-wishing from countless people all day long.  People brought me everything from inspirational bookmarks and magnets to an enormous pound cake covered with chocolate butter cream frosting with flowers and candies sprinkled throughout the day.  I got my favorite perfume and a collection of shirts, hats, and water bottles with the “Life Is Good” slogan (my all-time favorite) emblazoned on them.  There were bottles of champagne and Merlot with chocolate-dipped strawberries to surprise me.  Then there were the childhood pictures of me in the newspaper.  That’s OK.  My little sister will turn 40 soon enough!  I know where her baby pictures are.  My birthday was one of the best days of my life, and I truly enjoyed all of it.  I kept waiting for the downer to hit me, but it didn’t and hasn’t.  This week, as a matter of fact, many people have told me that 40 was the best age for them and that the 40’s in general were the heyday.

So why is it that some people absolutely adore the middle of life and others say that turning 40 was the beginning of a downhill slide for them?  There is a wisdom that comes as a gift at middle life that should be granted as soon as one graduates from high school.  I could have saved myself multitudes of heartaches and a lot of anguish had the wisdom that leads me now been imbedded in me when I was 18.  Physical agility, elasticity, flexibility and stamina are the ultimate cost for this wisdom.  How fabulous would it be to have the eighteen-year-old body with the 40-year-old mentality?  That is my next quest.  I suppose that if it weren’t for all of the heartaches and anguish the wisdom wouldn’t have come.  So in that light I am also grateful for the rough times.

I think many people suffer when they hit mid-life because they are full of regrets.  Trips not taken, words not spoken, things planned but not done pile up after a while and the mountain of regrets seems insurmountable.  It becomes easier to focus on the lack in life than it is to focus on how to change that lack into absolute abundance.  Believe me when I tell you that your body detects where your focus is.  If you focus on aches and pains, guess what?  You get more.  If you focus on emptiness, the emptiness grows.  Filling the voids should be the primary thoughts once you see that time is precious and youth is too.  There really is no virtue in self-denial for most of us, and it is all right to pursue what makes you happy.  A good friend told me last week that life is too short to do something you don’t want to do.  How true that is.  It is not too late for anyone to change his or her consciousness into one of abundance and to make a pact with yourself to have no regrets.  Whatever it is that you have always wanted to do, wherever it is you have always wanted to go, whatever it is you have always wanted to have, do it, go there, and get it.  The best is truly yet to come if that’s the way you choose to look at your life.

If the beginning of the 50^th decade of my life is any indication, I am in for the time of my life.  My body will have some shaping up to do to keep up with me, but it is definitely possible.  Don’t worry about what everyone else thinks as you pursue the life of your dreams.  Some people will think you are nuts (yes, a few have thought that about me and my feverish pace), but they will be left behind to ponder the things they regret.  The front office manager at our practice, Amy Brown, gave me a quote last week that really says it for me.  I’ll close this pontification with it: “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body; but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow!  What a ride!”  Thank you to all who love me.  Treat your body and your spirit well.

The beginning of a new year brings many things to all of us.  By February we are usually getting into the groove of not writing last year’s dates on checks or in my case in numerous patients’ files for their routine visits (which, by the way, creates one heck of a mess with insurance companies as we try to straighten that out).  For our office, it means our multiple travel dates get worked into the schedule and that can sometimes be frustrating for people who are trying to get in to see us.  Please be patient as we work around our busy travel schedule, but I promise the inconvenience will be worth it in the long haul.  We are not off to long weekends on the golf course or lounging on the warm beaches in the Caribbean all the time.  Our travel is done with growth in mind and that growth is the subject of this week’s column.

For the next three weekends we will be traveling to expand ourselves and our offerings to the public.  As Chiropractors the state of Georgia requires that we attend 20 hours of continuing education every year.  That is the bare minimum that we are allowed to get by with in order to maintain licensure.  We attend many times this amount in order to stay on the cutting edge of the latest techniques available to chiropractors and to learn what new research is out there.  We take pride in the fact that we are always open to new ideas and if there is something new out there that might help our patient base we want to know about it.  There is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat and if one way isn’t the best one for a particular case I want to have the next way in my bag of tricks.  This is the very reason we are proficient in more than one style of adjusting technique.  Seminars are held around the country every week that help hone those adjusting skills, and we like to keep sharp. This weekend’s trip, though, is a personal development weekend.  In an effort to be as well-rounded as possible we look for things to help us grow personally in addition to our professional enhancement.  We will be taking two of our staff members along who are attending workshops with us on communication and management.

O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine, is one of the publications that I stop whatever I am doing at the time to read as soon as it lands in my mailbox.  Since Oprah got her big break in the early 1980’s I have followed her career and was ecstatic when she started her magazine.  One feature is a piece that she writes every month called “What I Know For Sure”.  It is the last page in every issue, and in January Oprah wrote, “We have to keep transforming ourselves to become who we ought to be.”   It is so true that as spiritual beings on this planet having human experiences we must continue to be open to change in order to allow the metamorphosis that is ours to take place.  We all have a personal responsibility to expand as beings to help ourselves and all the lives we touch.   We can choose to be stuck in our familiar ruts where everything stays exactly the same and the view never changes or we can be brave enough to allow the purpose for our lives to unfold.  It is never easy to change and growing pains are inevitable.  The other side of the growing pains, however, is always worth the trouble.  I heard from adults as I was growing up that anything worth having takes hard work to get.  Taking full responsibility for personal expansion is no exception.

I challenge each of you to find some area of your life that has been stale or stagnant for some time and make a commitment to allow change to happen.  Are you doing everything possible to reach out and help make the universe a better place to be?  If there is a particular aspect of life that you are unhappy with take a step out of your ordinary routine and find a way to change it.  Read self-help books or sign up for a night class to better your education.  Find weekend retreats for you and your significant other to attend to better your communication.  Locate anger management workshops.  Find a hobby.  Learn to appreciate something you never have before.  Nature, art, music, and travel are a few things that bring me joy.  If you have been trying for years to change others in order to make yourself happier, the lesson is that you must change you in order to gain new perspective.  As Oprah said, “Transformation doesn’t happen unless you’re willing: It’s your choice.  This year I’m choosing to live beyond my wildest dreams.”  So if it is a little bit more difficult than usual to get an appointment with us, please be patient.  We are learning to grow beyond our wildest dreams.  Treat your body and your spirit well.

When I celebrated my 40^th birthday last August (the staff in our office joke that I take the entire month of August to celebrate my birthdays), I decided that I would make every effort to live my life to the fullest from that point forward.  I would no longer put off taking those long weekend trips when the opportunities arose, I would indulge myself on occasion with ice cream when I felt like it, and I would stop waiting for someday to arrive to do the things I enjoy doing.  While I have been pretty good about not delaying my gratification, I have also become quite reflective in trying to make sure I am not missing anything and am doing all I can to be the best friend, doctor, boss, aunt, sister, and daughter I can be.  Lofty goals with an almost Pollyanna theme, I know, but I was up for the challenge. As August is just around the corner again I look back on the work I have done on me since last year and realize that I am a work in progress. When people ask how I am, I often answer that I am almost perfect and there is always room for improvement.  We are all almost perfect because we would not need to be here in this realm to learn lessons if we were perfect. I was talking to one of our staff members about life in general a couple of weeks ago and remembered a principle I was introduced to while I was a student at Life University.  I shared it with her and thought I would make some comments on it for this week’s column.  It is not specifically about chiropractic or about health but can change everything in your life if you let it.

I was introduced to Dr. Donald Epstein when I was in school because I attended every lecture I could to soak up all the chiropractic technique and philosophy that were available to me while I had it at my fingertips.  On the night I went to hear him speak he was discussing the subject of the Boomerang Principle, a book he had recently written.  The Boomerang Principle states very basically that what goes around comes around but with interest.  According to Dr. Epstein, we are all born with an imbedded boomerang of sorts that is the core of our make-up.  As more people become aware of the boomerang that we all control and how to use it the world can evolve into a much more peaceful, loving place to be.  It works something like this: imagine having a boomerang in your hand and into the boomerang you have the power to encode anything you want.  You know before you do this that as you release the boomerang it will travel the world and bring back to you whatever you send out but more of it.  Sending out a boomerang full of hate, criticism, anguish, spite, and absolute disregard for others will bring back a life full of all of those negative things and more.  It will also attract to you all the boomerangs of other people who have sent out the same types of negativity.  Soon you find that you have absorbed into your own being the hardships you sent out and a dwindling spiral sucks you in.  Failure, poverty, pain and generalized unhappiness follow the darker side of this boomerang.

On the other hand, you have the power to encode into your boomerang health, prosperity, peace, friendships, generosity, love and joy.  As you release your boomerang to the world the magnetism of it brings to you all of these things and much more.  Your boomerang travels the world and attracts the people who celebrate life to its fullest. These people make conscious choices to improve this world by making a genuine difference in their spheres of influence and apply the Boomerang Principle to everything.  When situations arise you have a choice to send out whatever you want to receive back in abundance.  It is not necessarily what happens to you in your life that makes the difference between happiness and misery.  The thing that makes the most difference is your own reaction to the things that happen to you and your effort to give to others what you want in return.  Dr. Epstein says that the Boomerang Principle “is your umbilical cord to the world of unlimited possibilities” because as you send out good to others only good can be returned.  He also says that patience is necessary because “God’s delay is not God’s denial.”  The longer your boomerang takes to return home, the greater amount of interest you will receive.

If you send out a boomerang that is filled with spite, watch out.  Your head might just be the one that rolls.  If you send out one that is filled with doing the right thing all the time you will be rewarded in innumerable ways.  As with everything in this life, the choice is ours to make.  We can create the ideal scene in our own lives.   Test the Principle for yourself.  As you send many boomerangs around your world every day, encode them gently with peace, prosperity, love, health and joy and watch as the wonders of life are drawn to you almost magically.  It works.  Treat your body and your spirit well.

My last column was about roller coasters and being cautious when you ride them.  Some people who read it were amazed that a free spirit like me would be so careful and avoid something like a roller coaster as a way to fulfill my thrill seeking drives.  My thrill seeking has taken a turn that is more like a self-challenge than a desire to be scared out of my wits or to risk my own health for a moment’s pleasure. This past week 5 members of our staff traveled to Colorado to embark on some team-building exercises and I thought I would share our experiences and maybe even challenge some of you to expand your horizons and push the limits of what you think you might be capable of in order to achieve a sense of confidence beyond your current awareness.  There is no substitute for the feeling that you have actually done something that you thought was too much for you or something that you were afraid to tackle.

A few years ago I went to a place in the Rocky Mountains called Glenwood Springs.  It is a quaint mountain town that boasts a one million gallon mineral spring-fed swimming pool that is 400 feet long and 100 feet wide, supposedly the world’s largest hot therapy pool (100 feet long by 30 feet wide), and an area where there are caves that mimic a steam room naturally.  I loved the way I felt after enjoying the time I spent there, and vowed to return someday.  It was time to go on a team trip, and I persuaded our staff members to choose Glenwood Springs as a destination for it.  The spa-like offerings of Glenwood appealed to everyone.  A promise of a spa day to include herbal body wraps, full body massages, and unlimited time in the mineral spring water pool and vapor caves was all it took for the gang to jump on board and fall in love with the idea of a Rocky Mountain getaway.  The only things I left out of my original description of the trip were the possibilities that we would go on a whitewater rafting adventure down the Colorado River and a rigorous hike that meandered one and a half miles through a portion of Glenwood Canyon and up to a lake that was created by a geological fault – mostly vertical, rocky, and very challenging.

Did I fail to mention that the youngest member of our traveling team is 30?  When I outlined the adventures of our trip I met some silent stares and comments like, “I’ll be waiting on y’all when you get back.”  One of our staff members mentioned the fact that heel spurs and leg cramps would certainly keep her from making a hike like the one I described.  Her husband even warned her not to attempt the hike.  Our office manager who is also my mom said, “I’m not going rafting.  I don’t like being in the sun and I’ve never done it before.  I’ll go for the walk but I’m not going rafting.”  So off we went – the divided and unsure group that we were.  I pretended to be completely confident in what we were about to do, but I myself had never been whitewater rafting.  I had made the hike to Hanging Lake, but the river I had never attempted.  I was going to test myself if I expected everyone else to.  I made the reservations for the rafting trip to be on the first day of our five in the mountains.

All five of us showed up to the rafting company slightly apprehensive but ready for our limits to be tested.  The trip was a three hour adventure that would take us over some exciting rapids on the Colorado River and would require that we sign a waiver of liability that took all responsibility for injury off the shoulders of the outfitters.  That made me nervous, but we had to sign the waiver if we were to go on the trip.  We suited up in our huge orange life vests and took off for a beautiful trip that none of us would ever forget.  It was fun and we all helped to paddle the boat down the river and through the rapids which were much milder than any of us had imagined.  No sweat.  We had handled the first hurdle of our challenging trip hands down.  We celebrated our first victory and all built a little confidence for the next round.

Hanging Lake was next.  We all started on the trail early the next morning, and it seemed too mild at first.  It was a concrete path that wound along the banks of the river and led to a trailhead that went immediately up onto a rocky course that would challenge the very fibers of our beings.  For the next three hours, we struggled uphill, over boulders, and through very rugged terrain that required us to give each other a hand at more than one turn.  We were pulling on each other and stopping so that each of us could rest and get water.  Everyone was cheering each other on and offering encouragement all along the way.  When we finally reached the top and there was a breathtaking view of a beautiful blue lake and a rock which spouted icy cold water from its belly to form a gorgeous waterfall we were in awe of what we saw and what we had accomplished.  No one could believe how far we had come or what we had endured to get there.  Our victory was huge, and we celebrated it together.  All of us had photos taken at the base of the mountain when we came down to show people what we had done.  Everyone commented that if we could climb that mountain there is nothing we can’t do.

The upshot of this whole trip is that we all broke barriers that we had placed before us.  No one drowned.  No one was too sun-scorched.  No leg cramps or heel spurs got in our way.  Mountains were not too high for us to climb.  Fear was replaced by camaraderie and trust in each other.  We truly had the best team building experience of my life.  I appreciate the people who work in our office in ways that I have not before.  I challenge you to find new ways to get to know yourself and the people around you.  Go out of your comfort zone and try something you said you never would.  Trust in those around you to help you widen your horizons.  You will be glad you did.  Treat your body and your spirit well.

It’s the time of year when people begin to make those trite New Year’s resolutions that seem never to come to fruition.  “I’m going to exercise every day.”  “At midnight on December 31^st, I quit smoking.”   “I’m going to lose weight.”  There are hundreds of them, I am sure, but the thing that always bugged me about empty resolutions was the fact that I never understood why I didn’t comply with my own wishes.  I figured it all out and, of course, the answer is complicated.

There is a big difference between goals and resolutions.  According to World Book Dictionary:

goal: a thing for which an effort is made; thing wanted

resolution: a thing decided on; thing determined; the power of holding firmly to a purpose

To make a resolution one needs to be really sure about the level of commitment to seeing it through.  To set goals one needs to come up with a list of things he wants and figure out a plan to get them.  These can change frequently and do when goals are reached. New ones have to be set.  Goals keep one going in a positive direction.  They are things for which an effort is made.  That means that if the effort is not quite enough to hit the intended mark, just go back to the drawing board and try again.  Nothing is lost in this game of goal setting.  Just keep trying.  On the other hand, resolutions are much more serious, and guilt is attached to not achieving the intended level of resolve.  Resolutions cannot be made in five minutes before the toast and the big peach drop.  Serious time and thought should go into the process.

If, for example, your resolution is to quit smoking, you must decide just why you want to quit.  If it is for the wrong reason, it should be a goal and not a resolution.  Otherwise you will set yourself up for failure right off the bat.  If you want to quit for very personal health reasons or because you are tired of the negative aspects of smoking, chances are good that a resolution to do so will work.  If you are quitting because your significant other want you to, make it a goal to quit by a certain time, but don’t resolve to do it by then because you might not make it.  If it is a goal, you can always change the targeted quit date as it comes around if you are not personally ready to give up the smokes.

For those in the Christian faith, tomorrow is Easter Sunday – the end of the 40 days of Lenten sacrifice, the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, and a very important day in the ecumenical calendar.  It also marks a period of renewal for people who have been in a reflective space for the past 40 days.  Renewal is essential for all of us no matter what the origins of our faith set forth.  Without the promise of renewal we can sometimes fall into ruts and lose the focus that is the driving force behind aspiring to reach our goals.  The high periods in our lives make the low ones much easier to tolerate.

Although it is sometimes difficult to discipline ourselves to regroup, the world is full of hints that it is a good idea.  Tides ebb and flow, dawn follows darkness, and spring makes way for warmth and beauty following cold, dreary winter.  There is only so far down something can go before up is inevitable.  We should take the time to look at our lives and assess the direction in which we are traveling periodically in order to assure that we are getting where we want to go.  There are simple things we can do in the spirit of renewal that will make a huge difference in our lives and the lives of others.

There was a movement not too long ago where people were encouraged to practice “random acts of kindness” and watch what happens. When I lived in Savannah I was a member of a group of people who got together periodically and held discussions similar to a mastermind group and we wanted to participate in this movement to see how it affected our lives.  We decided to make a conscious effort to perform at least three acts of kindness for a stranger every day for a month, and then we would get together again to compare notes.  I would do unusual things like pay for someone’s meals anonymously at the deli or pay for someone behind me at the gas station.  I actually paid a parking bill at the airport once for a man who drove a much nicer car than I did at the time.  It isn’t about giving to those who don’t have.  It is about giving to others just because.  I picked up trash that someone threw on the ground at the bank, smiled at the usually grumpy cashier at the movie theater and wished her a great day, and went out of my way to hold the door at the mall for whoever was coming in after me.  As much as I despise the cigarette butts that people thump out the windows of their cars and don’t consider it littering, I picked up some of them from the street in front of my house. I started to acknowledge people whose jobs I usually took for granted and thanked them for making my life better.  What I found during this exercise was that my life was generally much happier and I felt more compassion toward others.  I also learned that it is very difficult for someone to be grouchy and obstinate toward me when I am sending out smiles and genuine caring for others.  Compassion and good will from others started to filter down to me.  My life didn’t seem to have as many difficulties as it did before.  It was as if I had won the emotional lottery.  Colors became brighter, the little things that make me smile seemed to happen more often, and life for me developed a deeper meaning.  The little roadblocks to getting where I wanted to go seemed to fall away.

While I am not consciously exercising the three random acts of kindness every single day, I have discovered that the urges to be more kind in general have stuck with me.  There is truth to the assumption that people will treat you as you treat them.  The person you are actually kind to might not return the kindness, but someone else in your travels will.  Outflow equals inflow.  Try the exercise and see how it changes your life.  This is not to say that everything in life will be hunky-dory suddenly just because you have decided to be a more kind and thoughtful person.  The thing to look forward to is that it will put a new face on the entire experience of life for you.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”  What would happen if everyone decided to take part?  What if your acts of kindness began a wave of exponential kindness in Milledgeville?

Disappointments in life are inevitable.  The best thing about them is that somewhere following the disappointment there will be something amazing that will happen to make up for it.  Look for the amazing things in life to rejuvenate you and breathe new vision into your ordinary days.  My wish for you is that this time of renewal is one that will bring about lasting life changes that you can carry forward and spread to others.  Happy Easter.  Treat your body and your spirit well.

In recent months, we have been given opportunities to sponsor several different charity events – Relay For Life, The March of Dimes walk, Light of Hope for CASA, and the “It’s Reigning Cats and Dogs” auction that will benefit ARF.  We took the opportunities that various organizations offered for many reasons.   Sure, it’s good advertising and a lot of fun to participate in these events, but the real spirit of our donations goes much deeper than that.  I thought I’d share some of those reasons with you in anticipation of upcoming community activities and perhaps spark additional interest in them.

When we were approached and asked to become the first corporate sponsors for the 2002 Relay For Life , there was no lag time in our decision because our practice is full of cancer survivors and they touch us in ways that are inexplicable.  When I see the smile and hear the fresh sarcasm of a 12 year old leukemia survivor I am grateful that she gives me the chance to keep her nervous system clear and free of interference.  A wonderful couple who are both survivors honor us with the opportunity to take care of them.  They are in their sixties, and still as in love as they were the day they met.  When she talks about him her eyes have a sweet glow and when he talks about her, he tenderly insists on referring to her as “Mama”.  A very special and important person to Milledgeville and to the readers of this paper is a welcome sight every time she graces our office with her presence.  She smiles when she really doesn’t want to and shares big fish stories with us.  We can always count on hearing a great big unmistakable belly laugh from one man who is retired but still working hard grooming his yard to make his wife, also a survivor, happy.  A single mother who spends her mornings and afternoons riding a school bus to chaperone difficult children says we are the only doctors who listen to her and treat her like a human being.  A young woman who was terrified to see a chiropractor before she came to us is also a survivor.  Now she looks forward to her adjustments and shares with us her love for Big Mike and the Booty Papas.  More than anything, these people and their courage inspire us to be involved with Relay.

While it doesn’t get the publicity today that it once did,  March of Dimes has always spearheaded research for prevention and treatment of birth defects of all types.  My practice partner, Dr.Tracy Green, has a very special reason for supporting March of Dimes.  In 1974, her baby brother Holland was born with cerebral palsy.  With support from March of Dimes, Holland received the three surgeries that he needed in order to be able to walk.  In 1980 Holland was pictured with Mary Ann Mobley as poster child for March of Dimes and was featured on the nationally broadcast telethon.

There is a very unique individual who is a member of our practice who has a heart full of love to give a group of fortunate foster children.  She works full time, coaches basketball and track, and still finds time to devote to children who would otherwise not have loving parents.  Court Appointed Special Advocates recently held a candlelight vigil for those children who are the victims of neglect and abuse.  People who truly make a difference in the lives of these children are all around us, and they deserve our support.

As for the ARF auction, we believe that animals deserve a humane existence, and will do all that we can to support agencies who are willing to give of their time, talents, and treasure to see that this is provided for the animals of our community.

The world in which we all live is no longer an “I” world.  Helping each other is not only noble but also necessary for a functional society, and it is a spiritual truth that that which you give comes back to you many times over.  Part of the mission statement for graduates of Life University, from which Dr. Green and I graduated, is “To give, to love, and to serve out of your own abundance”.  It is our pleasure to do so, and our promise to you that if you will latch onto a cause and support it, abundance will be yours.  Treat your spirit well.

Today started out not unlike any other Monday in our office.  We had a few weekend warriors to piece back together, our regularly scheduled appointments were coming in, and we were all laughing as usual to welcome in the week the right way.  It always helps to laugh the week in – it gets the energy flowing in the right direction.  Then someone said something that caught me off guard.  John “Preacher” Layfield was in the Medical Center in Macon and was not expected to make it through the day.  I had to go there and see him one more time.

9 weeks ago today, someone referred Preacher Layfield to me to help him with some sciatica that he was having.  He has been in the pulpit at Emmanuel Baptist Church every Sunday that he was able for the past 36 years, and the sciatic nerve pain that he was experiencing at that time was keeping him from doing what he loved and was called to do.  I promised him and his sweet wife that I would do all I could to help get his body back in shape for the pulpit.  He had some important messages yet to deliver.  I worked hard on him and within just a few visits had him back on his feet and he was able to preach again.  Our whole office got involved in watching his progress.  His smile was captivating when he started to feel better, and he always ended our time together with a kiss on my cheek and the words, “Bless you.” We all watched Mildred’s face when she came in with him to see if they were getting rest at night again or if it had been a rough one.  The good days were signified by the ‘two thumbs up’ sign from Mildred.  One Monday Mildred said that we should have been at church that past Sunday because John had really pulled out all the stops and had given everyone an earful.  I’m sure he had.

I excused myself from the people I was seeing this morning and drove quickly to Macon.  I wanted to see him and knew in my heart that he was not going to be around for long.  In our short 9 weeks together Preacher Layfield touched my life in unexpected ways.  He taught me lessons in perseverance, friendship, and love. He always stood up for what he believed in and didn’t worry about what anyone else thought.  One day I introduced him to one of my patients who is on his way to seminary in the Methodist tradition.  The young minister-in-training was excited to meet a veteran such as the one in front of him.  Without missing a lick, Preacher Layfield said, “He’d be all right if he was a Baptist.”  He never lost his sense of humor.

As I entered his hospital room I felt privileged to be seeing a man who had lived his life as we all hope to do.  He was an inspiration to those who knew him, he was funny and warm at the same time, and he did what he loved right up until the very end of his life.  He preached last Sunday, and if it weren’t for his being in the hospital he would have done so yesterday.  I reached out and touched his hand then rubbed his head as I told him thank you for touching my life the way he did.  He could not respond with words, but I could feel his spirit in the warmth of his skin and I knew that he received my message.  I tearfully went out of the room as others were making their way in, and I knew that I had seen John Layfield for the very last time.  I was overwhelmed by the comments from his family about how I had been able to help him in his last weeks to do what he loved, and I felt small.  I had been doing what I was trained to do.  I should have felt a mile high for actually helping him, but the selfish part of me just wanted my friend back at that moment.  His son-in-law said that I had made a believer out of Preacher Layfield with the relief of his sciatic nerve pain.  It seems that for years people have been trying to get him to see a chiropractor, but God saved him for me.  I had made a believer out of him?  How many believers has he made out of others?

Preacher Layfield left this world at 3:40 this afternoon.  I was taking my jacket off at the end of the day when Mildred called to say she was home after a long couple of days.  It is with humble admiration that I bid Preacher Layfield adieu.  It has been said that that which you give you receive.  I have received blessings beyond belief from Preacher Layfield.  The selfish part of me wanted him to hang around awhile longer, but his work on earth was clearly done.  He truly was a good and faithful servant.  I pray that my life will be spent as his was – doing what I love and was called to do until the very end.  Treat your spirit well.

Several members of our staff recently returned from a management seminar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where we learned a ton of information about milestones.  Yes, we flew to the north and sloshed through the dirty snow which was 18 inches deep to learn about milestones.  There are many different types of milestones. We learned about some of the types this weekend and were reminded of others.  The weekend started with discussions about the different milestones we reach with our patients as we watch them get better.  Their x-rays change in response to our corrective care, their demeanors change as the pain they were once experiencing disappears, and the atmosphere changes as we all watch the evolution of their experiences unfold.  Ultimately, our patients refer their friends and families to us so that they can experience the same care and hopefully get the same results.  After all, it is the purpose of every chiropractor that I personally know to make lasting improvements in the lives of those they touch.  Milestones are much more important to us than any other type of compensation we receive.

But these measurable milestones are the easy ones to tabulate.  There is protocol set up to measure them.  What about our personal milestones?  What is it that would determine for you whether or not you are successful in life?  Is it so simple as to look at the size of your bank account at a certain point and say, “Wow.  Look at that.  I have really done it.”?   You might have to take that statement back these days when you look at your retirement account and see that it is worth only half what it was three years ago.  Can you ride in the huge fancy car or sit in your huge luxury home and say that success is yours?  Maybe so.  For some this is just what they want to feel successful.  For others, though, the material trappings of success are trophies that leave them feeling empty when they measure what really meant the most in life.  This is not to espouse the theory that there is virtue in poverty, however.  There is nothing wrong in my opinion with having nice things, and I have a few of my own.  I just mean to say that there is usually more to look for to measure milestones in one’s life.

When you think of the milestones you would like to record for yourself or think about how you would like to be remembered after you leave this earth, what do you see?  How close are you to being the person you really want to be?  If you have to think too hard, you might need to redefine your life’s purpose. Without a purpose you can’t really measure milestones.  What would be your yardstick if you don’t have a definite purpose on this planet?  One of the definitions given by Webster for the word “purpose” is the object for which something exists or is done.  There are many stories of people who happily work until retirement age then die after a few short years because they lost their life’s purpose when they quit working.  Take out a piece of paper when you get a chance to do so and write down your purposes for being here.  We were not born by accident.  There is a definite job for each of us to do.  The way to restore life and action in a person is to rehabilitate their purposes.  If you have lost sight of your purposes, re-focus your energy and find them again.  The complicated place in which we live needs more people to lead who have clear in their minds what their purposes in life are and have a willingness to help others find theirs.

Once your purposes in life are redefined, you can decide the milestones by which you might measure your success.  If your purpose is to touch as many lives as possible with your gift of healing, as I believe mine is, and you are working in hotel sales, as I once was, you are clearly not fulfilling your life’s purpose.  Get your life in line with the channels that will lead you to the path of fulfilling your life’s purpose.  Milestones then are much easier to measure and living becomes completely fulfilling.  It is amazing how much easier life is when you are doing what you are supposed to be doing.  When everything is a struggle and nothing ever seems to fall into place, pay attention to the purpose behind it all.  Are you where you are meant to be?  Treat your spirit well.