I want to understand more
You know that question kids like to answer,
“If you were to have one superhero power, what would it be?”
Well, my super power would be to know exactly how people think, their beliefs, their values, and how they make their life choices. This kind of thing fascinates me. I'm always trying to figure out someone's thought process.
This day and age, there are a lot of things to have an opinion about. There are so many things to keep us busy. There's really no reason for any of us to be bored. At the same time, with everything that's out there, there are so many different choices and lifestyles, we find so many people in so many 'camps'.
Liberal or Conservative?
Vegan or Paleo?
Masculine or Feminine?
Natural or Synthetic?
Fast food or Organic?
Running or Yoga?
Breastmilk or Formula?
Chiropractic or Medicine?
There's just so much out there. The lists goes on and on. And everybody's got an opinion about it.
I wanna know where and how and why people get their opinions and beliefs. Are people able to explore the 'other' side objectively? Can people hear other ideas and thoughts? Why are we so resistant to change? Why do people get so offended?
Recently I posted a question on my Facebook page about getting adjusted regularly. It became a threadhole of different opinions about why some people don't get chiropractic adjustments.
“How do people not get regular chiropractic adjustments?”
My motivation for the question was to understand and know what other people do if they've never gotten an adjustment. I suppose I could have elaborated on the question to help people understand where I was coming from.
I've been getting adjusted since I was about 11-years-old. So, for the most part, I don't know what it's like NOT getting adjusted. It's been a part of my lifestyle for all this time, and it works for me. When I asked the question, I genuinely wanted to know what people do to stay healthy and feel good. I also wanted to know about those people who did indeed get adjusted in the past, but didn't continue. There were many views.
For the people who didn't continue, their answer was simple and understanding. They didn't have a good experience and never went to another one.
End of.
Most people answered that it's all about being able to afford regular chiropractic care.
Some of my colleagues out there didn't buy that answer.
I agree.
Saying that you can't afford the regular chiropractic adjustments is baloney to me.
Please, stay with me. Lemme explain.
A large majority of people who come in to see me do so because they are in pain.
They hurt.
They want to know why.
But the bottom line is, they want the pain to go away.
I tell people time and time again that pain is not the problem. The problem is the problem. But human beings don't automatically think of it that way. People feel pain, react, and then do something to make the pain go away.
But the 'something' is usually a drug or a massage, or they think it's because they slept wrong and eventually, the pain will go away on its own.
When someone comes in to see me, they expect me to 'fix' it and make the pain go away.
It doesn't work that way.
But, for argument's sake, let's go with this.
Most of the time, a series of chiropractic adjustments is very effective in 'making the pain go away'.
Yes, that initial series is a certain amount of money.
But, once the pain goes away, assuming you're not going to do anything stupid like eat crap food every day, drink loads every day, stay up all night, and treat your body like it's a punching bag, you can actually improve your health and state of discomfort greatly by just making a few changes gradually.
(Just because you get older every year, doesn't mean that your health is supposed to get worse and worse.)
Once the pain goes away, it's MUCH easier to keep the pain away doing good things for your body and mind than to deal with damage control of severe debilitating pain.
Consider that part of that good routine includes regular chiropractic adjustments twice a month.
And if money is an issue, an adjustment once a month is way better than nothing.
So, if good health is of high value to you in your life, is spending £30-£40 per month impossible?
I'm also talking to those people who come to me initially because of pain, and then they don't come back until the pain comes back. At first thought, when they didn't come back for their regular monthly adjustments (when I told them it's important for their bodies to continue to stay strong and well), I assumed they didn't like me anymore. I took it personally.
But then when they called me a few months later and said, "I'm in agony. Please can I get adjusted?" That makes me realize that there's something else running the show.
In this case, it's not about the money, because when the pain comes back, it's usually worse than before, and the amount of adjustments needed exceeds the number of months in between the first and next time they visit my practice. So they end up paying more money.
My view is, if people really knew how powerful just one adjustment is, they'd take time, energy, and their money to continue getting adjusted on a regular basis.
But, I also do recognise that this goes back to my original curiosity. Some people just don't agree with me. They don't think that chiropractic care is important. I understand that. I'm not expecting everyone to agree with me. That's the beauty in conversation.
What I understood from that thread on my Facebook page, people think that chiropractic is, at best, pain relief, and at worst, very dangerous.
It's an ongoing conversation I have with people. And as the internet doesn't fail, one can find just about anything to support or refute anything we love.
So, what is it really about?
The bottom line for me is that all I want to do is help people. I know how amazing chiropractic is, and how it can transform someone's life. I've seen it happen over and over again. My mission is to tell people and teach people more and more about chiropractic.
For me, it's not an argument or debate. It's about purpose and my passion of what I do. I love people. I see greatness in people. Chiropractic is my vehicle in facilitating a person to finding the extraordinary in themselves.
Those obstacles of people's opinions and understanding of chiropractic will always be in front of me, but, I just keep going.
I'll keep helping people through chiropractic.
— Dr MaryAnne