July 2006

Do you have the courage to stand alone?

by Dr. Kevin Pallis and Dr. Ed Plentz

One of the realities every chiropractor will face is the sinking feeling of being rejected by a patient. It may be a sneer, a smirk, an incredulous look..."Three times a week? You've got to be kidding." The expressions of rejection are as varied as the different kinds of people walking through your doors. The feeling in the pit of your stomach, however, is universal. It causes you to feel dirty, inferior, and you vow to yourself that this will never happen again. You recede in your beliefs and you start letting patients walk all over you so that you don't experience the feeling of rejection again. Sound familiar?

In every civilization, since the beginning of time, the pillar of society has been the care, nurturing and protection of children ‑‑ the next generation. If the next generation isn't included in a social concept, the concept will wither away and die. It's a universal law. The treatment of adult back pain only is not a concept that will endure. Children's health is the core of any subluxation practice. How could it be any other way?

Now, if you've never had wellness in your office, some of your old practice members are not going to agree with your new chosen direction. Do you have the courage to stand alone? They'll all tell you they liked you the way you were ‑‑ a Burger King (you know, "have it your way") DC. They tell you where it hurts and you jump. When your entire focus is on the symptom of the day, it's a typical patient‑run practice with no patient education and no courageous chiropractor in sight.

A presupposition you have to embrace and come to grips with is that nobody entering your office will ever know what health is, even though all people entering your office think they do. From the know‑it‑all nurse to the professor of anthropology, they all have a PhD in how to ruin the planet, its people, themselves and their children. Do you really want to hear about their belief system of drugs and surgery or do you have the courage to stand alone? The price we must pay to introduce a new concept of health is the sacrifice of what people say or think about us. Focus on what you do, not what others want you to do. It all comes down to your level of passion and urgency.

Some of our previous belief systems demand we agree with anything people of authority say about health. Why would a subluxation‑based chiropractor listen to anything disease authorities have to say about wellness? We deal with wellness only. Yes, we see many patients with disease, but our intent for each person is the same, with or without disease ‑‑ remove VSC to allow the nerve system to adapt as best as it can for a lifetime. Do you have the courage to give people what they need, rather than what they want?

As coaches, we travel all around the country bearing witness to "the smallness of the fellow within" many DCs. We've seen it all. Chiropractors with flu shot clinics in their offices, bird flu warning posters, raising money for disease charities as well as every non‑chiropractic income‑producing activity, all to be part of the misguided, sick, subluxated, dim light bulb society.

How about DCs who have previous belief systems that demand they can't stand alone? They huddle with groups of people who despise chiropractic, yet they stand in muffled silence, unable to summon up their courage to offer anything besides what the traffic will bear. They actually join organizations that laugh at our chiropractic doctrines, in hope of scraping up a few low‑quality new patients. What a waste of human life. In these groups you're known by your first name, not by "doctor." A second‑hander for sure. A person who must follow instead of lead.

Children are the essence and fragrance of life. Without health there can be no love and where love is absent, there's no onward flow of society. Our sacred duty is to educate every person with a heart to feel and the ears and eyes to hear and see the truth. For those who refuse to embrace anything except the old, worn‑out phrase "if it isn't broke, don't fix it," there's a price to pay. For parents, it's their children who pay the price for their ignorance.

We've made our choice. The line's been drawn in the sand. There are no shades of gray or political correctness. This vision is too great to be contained. There's the courage to stand alone, and then there's everything else.

(The New Renaissance is a movement of passionate chiropractors dedicated to changing the world. The leader in patient education since 1977, the Mentor IV Coaching Program is a step‑by‑step navigational guide that embodies the very essence of The New Renaissance vision of healthier people creating a healthier world. Without patient education, your patients won't "get it." To learn more about The New Renaissance, contact world headquarters at 800‑525‑3879.)