So exactly what are you doing on a regular basis that’s some form of health self-improvement? Or is each of us ignoring the fact that we’re all going to live and we’re all going to die, and in the meantime we’re just going to try to accumulate as much as we can or pay off what we can or have fun while we can? Chiropractic care isn’t everything, I know—I’m just asking what you’re doing when you aren’t in my office. How are you eating? What are you doing for your insides and, just as importantly, what are you doing mentally? What are you doing that’s self-taught? What are you trying to accomplish? How are you here to serve?
Lately, I’ve been following a guy by the name of Chris. Recently, I heard him speaking to one of his students who’d had a rough time. This student put up a front to everyone, but Chris explained that the world needed each of us to be us, not whatever we think the world needed us to be. That made me think about health and how we avoid addressing it.
That’s why now I’m going to tell you to take away the cover of what you’re afraid to deal with—what you don’t want to deal with. Maybe you have some bad test results or you’re on medicine you don’t want to be on. For me, for example, one of the biggest things I regret when I look back and would do differently if I had a second chance is flexibility. Mine’s okay, but as I’m getting older I’m really realizing I didn’t pay attention to that like I should have.
So whatever it is you’re hiding behind—it’s probably something a lot of people point out to you—that’s what you need to focus on and go after. Remember it when you deal with your health. And also, have a goal for your health: What do you want to do with it? Do you want to just stroll along, doing what you’re doing right now even if it’s not necessarily good for you? That’s fine—I’m not judging anyone. Just realize that you have to be okay with it, have to own it: “I want to be diabetic” or “I want to do this” or “I want to be that.”
For me, I think the bigger picture is that when I pass from this Earth I want people to say, “Oh, yeah, Scott Cabazolo. What a great guy. You know what? He was a great chiropractor,” or maybe “You know what? He always made me laugh.” Or whatever it is. Not, “Oh, Scott Cabazolo, he died from . . .” or “He died because of . . .” Who wants to be known as that? I want to be known as, “He did something.”
So make your mark on whatever it is. It can be small—it can be just you. It doesn’t have to take over the community or the world, but it could, too, so remember that as well. I think that as I get older in practice it gets more and more frustrating to see patients going around in circles with conditions, labeled with stuff. They start to own that and they start to believe it and they start to get into medicine and get mad that their doctors aren’t prescribing enough or the pain clinics are kicking them out now. So this is what’s made me dive into all this. Not just the physical health, but a big part of it is, “Where are they going with this?”
You Are the Best Advocate for Your Health
One of my clients, Tony, is a great example of someone who did own his health. It started when he bumped his head pretty hard stepping out of a golf cart. At first, he tried to go on and forget the incident—as we all do—but as the days and then weeks passed he began to feel excruciating pain all through his face and head. He went to the hospital and the specialists passed him around until finally he was given a diagnosis and told he needed surgery, but he’d be on a waiting list for three to six months because his injury wasn’t considered critical. They sent him home in agony. In desperation, Tony began to look for alternatives.
He eventually found my office, and I’m pleased to say that it turned out that, in the end, all he actually needed was a few chiropractic adjustments. This is nothing against the doctors in the hospital—they went with what they knew best and offered what they could. But the point is that instead of bemoaning his circumstances, popping pain pills, and complaining about wait times, Tony took control of his health and was willing to try something else despite the possibility of failure. Now he’s pain-free and off that surgery waiting list (Tony’s full story can be found in my patient testimonials).
Like with Tony, piecing together where an incident really stemmed from is something that I work on in the very beginning with any patient. Because taking medication alone isn’t really a solution, especially when it has other effects. Yes, it’s there to help and I have nothing against it, but some people don’t react well to it; Tony described himself as a “zombie” who felt “disconnected.” And I agree that when you take medication there’s a disconnect from who you truly are as a person and how your body reacts to certain things. There’s a reason why we have it, sure, but we don’t want to rely on it if we don’t absolutely have to.
A quote I admire goes something like this: “Get these thoughts out of your mind. We mean the negative thoughts, whether it’s your health, finances, relationships. Bad luck doesn’t overtake you, you create it. Success isn’t the result of hard work, it’s the result of right thinking. God doesn’t punish you, you punish yourself.”
So remember that when you have a health goal, and get started. Make a plan for it, even if it’s small, and execute it.