Everything begins somewhere. We know from chemistry that no matter is destroyed or created in a reaction. There is only change of state.

I'd like to take you on a journey of life, choosing to begin with the consideration of existence.

In his book, "The Philosophical Scientist," Stephen Foster postulates that there was intelligence that interjected itself into nothingness and brought organization (or, as chiropractic calls it, "Universal Intelligence"). Whatever the intelligence that existed, its fingerprint can be clearly seen. We'll just respect its presence and begin with what is seen, what IS.

Let us look at two primary axioms, as defined and explained by Ayn Rand -- Primacy of Existence and Primacy of Consciousness.

She writes (in "Philosophy, Who Needs It?," Ch. 3, "The Metaphysical Versus The Man-Made," p. 29): "The primacy of existence (of reality) is the axiom that existence exists, i.e., that the universe exists independent of consciousness (of any consciousness), that things are what they are, that they possess a specific nature, an identity."

[Note: Chiropractic Principle #1].

"The epistemological corollary," she continues, "is the axiom that consciousness is the faculty of perceiving that which exists -- and that man gains knowledge of reality by looking outward."

The important distinction between these axioms is not automatic but, rather, an essential that has to be learned. It is in this distinction that we differentiate between the perceiver and the perceived. What we call today "a major reality check."

Our perceptions are based upon what we accept as reality. If we spend our time thinking that everything in the universe is about ME, then we find ourselves asking such questions as, "Why is this happening to me?" "Why does everything always happen to me?" "Why is everybody against me?" "Why can't I catch a break?"

However, if we look outward and our reality is to recognize the things around us as they are, we don't take them personally. We are able to grasp the difference between our inner state and the outer state. From that perspective we are able to make distinctions concerning reality that make the things around us work in our favor. But, first we have to make distinctions.

By looking and seeing reality as it is, each of us arrives at a clear understanding that the universe is not about ME. It is nothing personal. There are rules, there are principles and there are forces. We must learn to work according to the rules, guided by the principles and we will be able to guide the forces or flow with the forces.

The order is, first, gather the knowledge about the universe around you in order to build a knowledge base from which to work.

The initial steps or essentials with which we must begin have been set out -- recognizing existence as independent of who and what we are, and comprehending the absolute necessity of consciousness. This is to say, to properly begin it is critical to know where your feet are planted -- have a clear frame of reference, a firm foundation to build upon.

Have you ever been at a point in life where you looked around for a reference point? The situation required a decision based upon a firm frame of reference. Unfortunately, there had been no proper foundation laid. You found yourself walking into a mire of vacillating inequities, incongruencies and half-truths (mixed with wishes, hopes and dreams) that offered only confusion and despair. What you really needed was to feel confidence and assurance.

The alternative to this unsatisfactory situation lies in the establishment of clarity in mental processing. The clarity of which I speak is laying a foundation of values -- knowing what you believe and why you believe it.

I am talking about the difference between those who do what they do because someone told them (unquestioning acceptance) and those who do what they do because they have sought out the truth behind what they do. Now, they know the reasons for their actions, instead of just doing things because someone else did it or because they've been told to do it. Values are what we derive from our philosophical views.

The question then would be, do we have philosophical views?

Again, quoting from "Philosophy, Who Needs It?" (Ch. 1, p. 6), Ayn Rand states: "As a human being you have no choice about the fact that you need a philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears -- thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious into a kind of a mongrel philosophy and fused into a single solid weight -- self doubt. Like a ball and chain in the place where your minds wings should have grown."

The one thing that separates us from animals is our ability to use our intelligence for something other than just survival. We can create. We can consider the future. We can learn from the past. We are on a journey.

I believe it is our appointed natural function to mentally soar, that abundance is available to any who are willing to prepare their minds to attract it.

"'Value' is that which one acts to gain and/or keep. Value is not a primary, as it presupposes an answer to the question: of value to whom and for what? It presupposes an entity capable of acting to achieve a goal in the face of an alternative. Where no alternative exists, no goals and no values are possible." -- Ayn Rand, "The Virtue of Selfishness," Ch. 1, "The Objectivist Ethics," p. 16.

From an ethical stand point, we might ask what are values, and why do we need them?

The answers to these questions and more lie in the observation that subordinate values come from our recognition of those things that cause pain or pleasure. It is our separation between pain and pleasure that allows us to distinguish between good and evil, life and death. As creatures capable of higher cognitive processes, we should not limit our response to pain or pleasure but, project our thought processes far beyond the present moment.

So, if life is our fundamental value, then life is like the sun. The sun is the force that sustains every form of life in our known universe. Without the radiant energy of the sun, we would have no plants, no warmth, no air, no motion and no life.

As B.J. Palmer said, "Where there is motion, there is life. Where there is no motion, there is no life." We can deduce from this allegory that in order for there to be any benefit to the existence of the sun there must be a beneficiary.

Everything on our planet naturally holds life as its ultimate value. This is evidenced by an innate desire to survive in all living things. Remember the last time you saw a plant push its way up through concrete, asphalt or even a solid rock? Living creatures labor to support, procreate to prolong, and fight to protect life. Life is the value all living creatures hold as primary. It is the value of life that causes the last gasp for air, before everything stops and goes to randomness.

We see arteries bypass an obstruction. We see nerve tissue regenerate to resupply an area that has been de-enervated. We see the living reach for life. Our life and sustaining it is what should be the source of our values. Life is a self-sustaining and a self-generating action. Life is supported by a self-regulating and self-healing body.

Chiropractic is about optimum health-life.

Stillness or lack of motion is the antithesis of life. We have already discussed that life is a self-sustaining action. In point of fact, we are kept in existence through a constant process of self-sustaining action.

We living organisms continually violate the second law of thermodynamics by not succumbing to randomness.

Our innate intelligence continually reorganizes our biological functions, not only to sustain life, but to optimize our performance as we live, to live. It is like the standard of value for every organism is its life. That is how we are able to separate good from evil. That which furthers life is the good and that which threatens life is the evil. This is very basic and fundamental to our values and ethics.

So, we have identified the fundamental measuring rod for living things in our world. Our number one goal is to sustain life. Everything else in our lives is a sub-goal, and all of our sub-goals must adhere to the purpose of our number one goal: life.

You don't agree? Well, consider the alternative.

If we have anti-life as our number one goal, then all of our other goals, sub-goals, dreams, visions, missions or our general outlook would naturally follow this metaphysical standard. Destruction and immolation would be our ultimate objective. Why eat or hope, if all we seek to accomplish will have non-existence as its end? A moral contradiction -- to support your own destruction.

The chiropractic principles support this idea of life as a metaphysical purpose. The chiropractic meaning of life is the union of intelligence and matter. The function of intelligence is to create force, and the function of force is to unite intelligence and matter, hence we call it innate intelligence. Innate intelligence orchestrates life. In the absence of it, life is gone, and everything goes to randomness.

Human beings do possess the power to act as their own destroyers. This can be done very simply. And, no, you don't have to commit suicide. That would be the easy way. The most common method of self-destruction is refusing to use the mental capacity to think and reason.

As I just mentioned, this brings us back to one of the original questions: Why do humans need ethics/morals? The answer might be to lay the VALUE foundation necessary for continued existence -- to live in pursuit of the right goals, existence, happiness, productive work, and self-esteem.