#157 FOUR QUARTERS

5/9/2016

Forrest Gump made famous the saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” While that may be true, it is a bit fatalistic to the optimist in me. Perhaps that’s why I’m not much of a See’s candy fan. You do never know what you are going to get, but unlike life, you can simply spit out the chocolate with that yucky filling and pick another one. You don’t get to spit out life’s dealings. You have to face them, yucky center and all. Perhaps it might be more apt to say, “Life is like a football game.”

            It’s composed of 4 quarters, each one about 20 years in length. During the 1st quarter you are full of energy, darting this way and that, testing out the opposition, learning your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe management (your genes) gave you a great team to play with. Or maybe you’re a Charger (sorry Charger fans). In the 2nd quarter you’ve hit your stride. You know what your strengths and weaknesses are. You’re trying to amass points to go into the second half. You’re showing the rookies how it’s done. At half-time you take stock, buy a fast car, get a procedure, or, sadly, think that getting back into the first half can be done by dumping your 2nd half spouse and connecting with one still in his or her second quarter. By the 3rd quarter your defense is starting to break down. Your offense’s running game is flagging. Your game seems to proceed in feet, rather than yards. You are relying more upon experience and strategy than brute force talent. And by the 4th quarter you are trying to hold onto your slim lead, looking forward to the end of the game, retirement, and a quiet future watching ESPN news. This is proof that football is life…and this from a guy that didn’t watch the Super BowlJ

            So…what quarter are you in? I’m in my 3rd. I doubt there are any 1st quarter readers here. They are so new to the game they don’t even know there is an end. You 2nd quarter readers think you can ride your youth into the 2nd half. And 4th quarter readers are reading this and thinking, “Yeah, he’s right. Listen to him. I should have.” The goal isn’t to get to the end of the game and win or lose. Winning and losing is an illusion. The goal is to go to OVERTIME, and have a good time doing it.

            To get to OT and enjoy your time in OT requires you have a plan, you execute your plan, reassess your plan from time to time, and make changes as necessary. The plan is rather simple. You don’t get to choose the team that God gave you, those are your genes. But you do get to pick your offensive and defensive plays, to a certain extent. The way you get to OT is you do one thing that is good for your health and do it consistently. Once you are doing that one thing then do another, and then another, and then another. Always think what one thing can I add/refine in my life, to my offense or defense, to enhance my performance in the coming quarters. And then do it.

            If you have read any of my articles, you have heard me beat this drum before, over and over. “Yeah, I’ve heard this before.” But are you doing it? I am vastly healthier toward the end of my 3rd quarter than I was at the end of my second. I hope you are playing for OT. If you want to know more about what I’m talking about just ask.

Dr. Rick

After writing an article per week for a year, I just kept going. These are most of my collection. They are written with my existing patients in mind, so some stuff may seem odd or unusual, but would make perfect sense to those who know chiropractic and who know me. Enjoy and share! For my personal blog visit:

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What Our Patients Have To Say

Yolanda wrote:

I used to suffer severe headaches and migraines on a daily basis, usually all day. I managed to work in an office because I had to. When I went home at the end of the day I would often close the shades and go to bed. I could not plan weekend events because I simply never knew how I was going to feel tomorrow. If there were a special event such as a birthday or wedding, I would begin to medicate myself two weeks in advance to give myself the best chance of making the event.
Friends and fellow church-goers had been trying to get me to see Dr. Rick for some time before I finally gave in. Looking back, I don’t know why I waited. Within a month, I was headache free. I couldn’t remember what it was like to not feel pain. I could do whatever I wanted and not live in fear of the headache. This was a miracle for me, but the story does not end here.
An opportunity came up for us to adopt a newborn baby girl not long after I began chiropractic care. This baby was particularly important to me and my husband because her mother is a relative. Tragically, her mother was also a drug user and did drugs during her pregnancy. If we could not adopt the baby she would have been put into the foster system since the biological mother was incapable of raising her.
To keep a long story short, we did adopt her and she is doing fantastically. There is no sign of any effect of the drugs on her as of yet, and with God’s help, there never will be. We think that is because of the vast amounts of love and attention she gets from us, her real mommy and daddy.
What does this have to do with chiropractic? The reality is that without chiropractic, I would still be nearly an invalid with headaches. I COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN CARE OF AN INFANT OR RAISED A YOUNG CHILD. THEREFORE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR HER. MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE SOMEBODY MADE ME GO TO A CHIROPRACTOR.
You need to tell everyone you know what you know about chiropractic. Who knows who’s life you will change too.

Andrew's mother, Barbara, wrote:

Hello, My name is Andrew and I am a happy, healthy one year old. But I wasn’t so happy or healthy when I first met Dr. Rick a few months ago. I had been having problems with my ears for four months, I couldn’t sleep at night and I was miserable. We’d been to the doctor lots of times but nothing was helping. In fact, all the medicines the doctor had tried seemed to make me worse instead of better! Both the regular doctor and the Ear-Nose and Throat doctor said that if the antibiotics didn’t work, then they’d just have to put tubes in. Now my Mom and dad weren’t about to let them do surgery on me, especially since they had been reading and learned that tubes can cause more problems than they solve. My mom and dad did a lot of praying. Then my mom heard that sometimes babies who have a traumatic birth like mine have ear trouble. You see when I was born they used a vacuum extractor and forceps to pull me out. I guess all that yanking on my head, hurt my neck. She also heard that chiropractic care can be the answer. Now she was skeptical because she couldn’t imagine a chiropractor helping ear infections!?! But at that point she was willing to try anything!! Happily, a few weeks of adjustments and my ears were all cleared up. In addition, I no longer had a stiff neck or shoulders and my whole personality was happier. I have to tell all babies who have ear troubles, don’t let them give you tubes until you at least try chiropractic care first. After all, it can’t hurt and if you’re like me, you could be perfectly well with no drugs and no surgery. In my family, we thank God for Dr. Rick, because I feel better, my mom and dad are happier and sometimes, I even sleep through the night.