Mom. Student. Wife. Doctor?

I tend to be a talker, and a lot of times when I go different places, I wind up talking to people, sometimes without even fully realizing that I am doing it. Yesterday, I went to the grocery store with the kids, and when I came out there was a car parked right next to mine, and in it was this nice elderly man with a beard. The weather was really nice, and he was sitting in a silver car with the window fully open and I later discovered that he was sitting and reading a book. When we came out I was pushing the cart, two kids in tow, and he began to comment about the kids. We talked back and forth. He was from NJ and I was from NY, he heard my accent and commented on where I was from. He said that he was seeing a woman from there. Anyway we had a very nice, friendly conversation and through this I found out his name was Bucky. It even said it on his license plates. I enjoyed my conversation with the kind, lighthearted older gentleman, and as usual was running around and didn’t really stop to think.

There were some things about this kind old guy that really didn’t add up. He claimed to be from the area, but when I mentioned a place that he should know well, he didn’t know it. He also made mention of the fact that the place he was living in was not in good shape and that he would need to sell it. Well, as I drove, I really thought about Bucky. He was sitting in an okay car, reading a book, seemingly waiting on someone, but never really mentioned why he was just sitting in the parking lot. Then I also realized that he had several clothing items hanging across the back seat of his car, but one was a cotton tee shirt and actually had stains on it. You don’t hang and item that is made of cotton and stained I thought. He had a few empty coffee cups in the front seat, the cardboard ones like you would get when traveling, yet they were all from the same place. It didn’t really all add up. He seemed nice and clean, his car was in relatively good shape, and he was driving around with personalized license plates, yet somehow as I drove home I couldn’t help but wonder if Bucky was perhaps homeless or at the very least in need of some assistance. I consider myself to be a pretty good judge of people and this man seemed to me to be all there mentally and not really posing a threat. Somehow, though I missed some of the signs that perhaps he was in need of assistance.

I pride myself at being a person who likes to help others, yet the whole way home, and still a day later this chance meeting is haunting me. Who was the older man I met in the parking lot that day? Did I miss an opportunity to help him or was this just a fleeting conversation? I assure you I will be on the lookout for my new friend, and if by chance there is a next meeting, I will try to be more astute about putting the pieces together and asking more questions.

Being married can be a tricky thing. It is not always easy for each of us to balance our lives in perfect harmony with the other. Living with someone and loving them are just two separate things that do not always go hand in hand. Especially where kids are involved and many things happening at once, sometimes the juggling and handing off of kids becomes a replacement for actual time together.

Of late my husband and I have been having some marital difficulties. We are constantly bickering over stupid little things and can’t seem to get past the small stuff. We finally decided that perhaps it was time to go into couples counseling to see if we could resolve our issues.

Well, I made a few phone calls and found a person for us to talk to. The rate was reasonable and he seemed really nice on the phone, so we made our appointment. On that night we dropped the kids off with a sitter, and drove in silence to the counselor. I think that we were both a little nervous to hear what he had to say, and to lay all our cards on the table. We went in and he took down a little bit of background information on both of us, and then we began to speak about the core problems we were having in our marriage. My husband proceeded to tell him about how mad I would get at him when he would feed the dog at the table and then yell at her when she begged. I told the counselor that I really hated the way that he takes care of the house, and that he doesn’t fold the clothes the right way. Well, needless to say we went on and on, back and forth about these serious problems in our relationship and after a few minutes, the counselor stopped us and laughed. He said that we didn’t have any problems expressing how we felt to one another, and that our differences were normal. It was actually okay to get angry and frustrated at the other person, and to be able to convey that to them effectively showed that we had a really strong relationship. Well needless to say the ride home was much lighter than the ride there had been. We kept laughing about the fact that we went in for some serious marriage counseling and came out with the counselor laughing at us. Now we were both laughing at ourselves as well.

I guess sometimes you just need to have a trained professional tell you that you are normal. Although, I would venture a guess that we are far from normal, but we are pretty stuck together through it all. It really felt good to have our feelings validated and to know that we weren’t on the verge of anything major. We really had such a great night that night and we went out for coffee after a big session and just kept laughing about having the counselor laughing at us. What a hoot!

I learned about this new device today that I must share with you. The device’s name is Bob. What Bob is, is a device that limits the amount of TV or computer or video game time that your children can have.

You can buy this Bob thing online on Amazon or you can pick one up at Radio Shack. The cost is about $70.00. It can be plugged into any of the electronics devices listed above. To install it, just plug Bob into the wall and the device’s cord into Bob. It locks in, so short of cutting the cord, the kids can’t get Bob off the device. Then each person gets a code, and each code is set to an amount of time that they can spend on that device. This can be done daily or weekly which ever your preference is. You assign everybody a secret pin and a set amount of time. Then when they turn on the device, a code must be entered and the time the device is on is then deducted from that persons allotted time. When the person gets down to their last 60 seconds, Bob gives them a warning, and then boom…Bob cuts off the device. No arguments or debates, Bob just cuts you off.

The customers who had purchased this device said that not only was it stopping the arguments about how much time was being spent on TV and video games, but also it was saving them money. Apparently, so as not to waist their TV time, the kids have been shutting off the TV every time they leave the room, even just to use the bathroom. He said that it is well worth it just to see the kids shutting things off when they are not using them.

Another purpose of this device is that it encourages the kids to only watch the shows they really want to see, by forcing them to choose shows to watch with their limited number of hours. They must balance and bide their time, and in many cases, after breaking the bad habits of sitting and watching show after show, just because it comes on next, they are really scheduling and monitoring their own TV time. After a few months, studies have shown that most kids aren’t even using all of their allotted time, but are winding up with excess time in the end.

Well, as a parent, I can’t say enough good things about this device. It is amazing all the technology that is available to us parents these days. Another feature about this device that I really like is the fact that if you are a working parent and not there when the kids come home from school, Bob also has a block that will allow you to designate certain times of the day when the TV can not be watched. See Bob can be the enforcer even when you are not at home.

I personally think that if you have children, especially teenagers, then this device is definitely worth investing in.

These days so many Chiropractors are trying to be “real doctors”. It is a bit frightening to me when they try to get into medicine without a license. To me Chiropractic is so much more than medicine, that why try to change it, it is like reinventing the wheel. So that being said, then what is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is the study of dis-ease not disease. The word disease just means lack of ease or proper function. The body can express is lack of ease with symptoms or lack of symptoms, every body is different. Symptoms that your body can express when it is not in a state of ease can be things like low back pain, neck pain, headaches, and even things like diabetes and high blood pressure. Sometimes symptoms can be a lack of sensation such as numbness or tingling or even a pins and needles sensation. In either case a body is expressing a lack of proper functioning and good health.

Your nervous system is the center of your well being. As we can tell, the brain is a very important part of your body, being the only part that is completely housed in a bony structure. Your spinal cord is also surrounded by bones called vertebra. These bones protect your body’s central nervous system. When one of the bones of your spinal column (vertebra) moves out of its normal alignment, this is called misalignment, also known in the Chiropractic world as a subluxation. This very basically just means a misalignment of one or more of the bones in your spinal column. It may or may not hurt or cause symptoms immediately; however, over time they can cause interference with the communication between your body and brain and cause problems later down the road.

Most people think, so what, a bone moves a tiny bit out of place in my spinal column, if it doesn’t cause me pain, who cares? Well, although this concept may seem trivial, think about the consequences of it. Your brain is the mechanism that regulates your whole body. It increases and decreases your body temperature based on the body’s needs. It sends healing messages throughout your whole body that tell it where and when to release hormones and endorphins and where to focus extra heat and energy. It even tells your body when to protect itself, like in the instance of a broken bone, where swelling builds up to protect the injured area and tells it to heal.

If these messages to and from the brain are getting mixed up or not getting through at all, then the ability of your body to take care of itself is limited. Usually, when your body’s healing ability is limited, this is the time at which you wind up going to see the medical doctor for treatment of a disease or symptoms. Unfortunately, for the most part, the medical profession is unable to do little more than symptom relief for you, either by medicating you or removing the part that is giving you trouble. These things just mask the body’s real problems however. Mind you I am in no way saying not to see a medical doctor, I am just saying that if you need to see one, you may have one of these subluxations that could be causing you more damage internally, even though your symptoms are being covered up.

Try to use this example:

Your neighbor comes running from their house screaming FIRE! At three o’clock in the morning. You want him to stop so you can get back to sleep Right? So you run over tie him up and put tape over his mouth and go back to sleep? No that is absurd! Well of course it is, and yet when our bodies start screaming that there is a disharmony in them, we quick run out and get something to cut off that message. We can’t be dealing with that issue right now. Well in America we have been taught that pain is bad and we need to make it go away as quickly as we can. Pain is the way for your body to communicate with you, and you are not listening. You need to listen to your body’s messages and address them if at all possible.

I have yet to find a religion that truly suits me. I am not sure why I experience such difficulty in this area, but I think that it is the people and the way that they use the religion that turns me away from it. When I was younger I always believed in God. I never had any doubts that he existed, until my aunt passed away. She was one of my favorite people in the whole world, and when she died I guess I felt as if God had taken too much from me. I still miss her, she was that special. In any case, at that point in time I began questioning in my own mind the existence of God, I guess this went on for about 3 or 4 years, and then I had a revelation that truly changed me. In my search for higher understanding about the world, God and religion, I began watching Billy Graham on TV and the one night, alone in my apartment, listening and trying to understand what he was saying God came to me. No, I am not crazy, and he did not enter in the form of a person or a ghost. He was just there and I could feel his presence as strongly as I have ever felt anything in my whole life. I have never since doubted the presence of God, for me this revelation was enough to insure me that God is a real presence.

I began going to a local Christian church, and was truly going 3 times a week. I went and enjoyed the environment and the sermons and even began listening to Christian music. I thought I had finally found the religion for me. Then one of the pastors of the church got sick, and the parishioners were talking about this, and they were instead of looking to God for strength and the answers they were looking toward the medical community and the doctors. I really thought, something was truly wrong here. How could such a faith based community think that faith in the doctors and in modern medicine was more powerful than that of God? Needless to say, I was disappointed. I went back a few more times, and began to see more inconsistencies. Then one day, I was driving by this particular church and the sign out front said, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”. I could not believe that a church could spout such judgment. I don’t believe that it is our job to judge others, but only God’s as he has a level of understanding about things like this well beyond our comprehension. Why would people less than perfect themselves, begin pointing out the less than perfect ways of others? My personal feeling on this is that they know that they are not perfect, so they wish to distract by pointing out the imperfections in others. Being less than perfect is part of the human experience. Even those who try to achieve Godlike attitudes and perfection will always fall short in some way.

I think that we each are responsible for our own life, and keeping it as Godlike as we can. Living toward the ways of God and trying each day to improve on the day before should be our only focus. All judgment should be left in the hands of God.

In the dictionary Karma is explained as the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called samsara) described in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddist philosophies.

The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well.

I believe in Karma. I believe that there is no point in trying to take our revenge out on others as the universe provides a complete system of checks and balances and what goes around does come back around. I am not sure about the whole past life present life, but usually if you watch throughout life you will see that the world that we life in does work in cycles. Everything that happens in our universe performs on this principle. The sun rises and then sets and then rises once again. People are born and then they die, and then people are born again. All the planets follow a cyclic pattern; weather follows a cyclic pattern, and so forth. Our world is based on this which I have heard referred to as the boomerang effect, which very basically says what you throw out there in the universe will come back to you. In some cases this is for the better. Let’s say that you are a good person, try to do right by others, and always try to do the right thing. The universal principle says that you will get good things. This principle also goes along with the philosophy, you reap what you sow.

At this point, I don’t have a specific religious belief that is making me think this and I am not sure whether or not the past life aspect of this is true or not. I have seen it work with kids though, who may be not doing the right thing and then fall down or perhaps bump their head, or something to this effect. I guess as a person who tries to live my life according to what I believe is right and true, I need a philosophy in it like this. I think that if you don’t believe in Karma than you might feel that the people who do wrong things and don’t get caught never pay for their wrong doings. The most freeing thing in this philosophy for me is that I never feel the need for revenge against anyone because I know that the universe will balance it all out in the end. And for me that is the best part of this philosophy.

My experiences with Karma have not always been on the positive side however, I have experienced the Karma of my mistakes in the form of universal revenge. Unfortunately, even when no one else finds out about your mistakes the universe still knows and finds the balance for you and for the person you have wronged.

In short, as much as it seems that some people are getting away with doing the wrong things, rest assured, nothing goes unseen or unpunished in this universe, trust it, it works!

Chiropractic is a bit of a different thought process than medicine. Even from an early age, for me a trip to the doctor was like a nightmare. I never wanted to see another doctor. When I was a little bit older, maybe like about 12 I remember clearly running out of a doctor's office and refusing to return because she was going to give me a shot. I remember my mother taking me back with my father to reinforce the fact that I was going to get this vaccination. So in any case, I got the shot, but I have always been one of those people who really can't stand routine medicine.

I think that medicine definitely has its value in our society. I think that medicine should be used to save lives, etc when needed. To sew back on limbs and give stitches, if necessary, however, I don't believe in a well patient system. I know that right now most of you are saying…WHAT?! It is my feeling that perhaps well patient care is not necessary. I think that most doctors rush to give treatment without allowing the body to experience a natural immunity. Your body has the inborn or innate ability to heal itself and only when allowed to use this immunity, can it really get stronger.

For instance, I don't believe in vaccinations. I believe that one reason you have to have follow up boosters, is because your body is rebelling against what the doctors are injecting you with. That is your natural immunity fighting. When you teach your body that if it rebels against an agent, that you are just going to keep bombarding it, aren't you really telling the body that this poison is okay. We live in a very clean society, with fresh drinking water, etc. We do not need vaccinations in the same way that the people in Africa do. In a poorer less advanced society, there may be more need for vaccinations, but in this country, there is really no need. In fact, most of the diseases for which they currently immunize children for, were on the decline in our society before the vaccinations were distributed, and there was a noticeable spike in the instances of these diseases immediately following the distribution of these vaccinations. By getting vaccinated for something, you are allowing them to inject your body with a form of the disease, in the same way you develop immunity to a disease you have already gotten.

In short, in this unknown world where anything can happen, I would rather rely on the innate ability of my body to fight off disease, rather than that the doctor gave me the right medicine or shot for it.

Also, there is a whole other issue surrounding these vaccinations. It is perhaps not a very widespread thought process as yet, however, it has been recently discovered that childhood vaccinations may very well be causing many cases of autism in our society. It is my person belief that many of the childhood issues are caused by these vaccinations especially at the early ages for which they are prescribed. I believe that the future will show that instances of ear infections, asthma, and crib death will be just some of the vaccination related issues of the future. I just know that for me, I will not subject my children to this form of cracking their immunity. I will instead allow them to utilize their own natural process to fight off disease and build natural immunity.

Just an aside, there is no truth to the fact that your children cannot attend school without vaccinations, that is just government hype. In each and every state, there is a waiver that you can sign to reject immunizations, and that waiver goes in your child's folder in place of the vaccination certificate. If you are unsure about vaccinations there are plenty of books out there about this, and it is truly your choice as to whether to subject your child to this or not.

Being as I am still working on my prerequisites for Chiropractic school, I really don’t have the opportunity much to be around all the chiropractic people I so enjoy. When I was invited to accompany a friend of mine to a seminar in St. Louis, I was really excited at the prospect. I was a little leery about leaving the kids and my husband at home. My husband and I are kindred spirits and although he is not a Chiropractor, he shares my enthusiasm about chiropractic and my love of being around it. Because I am a student, I pay a minimal amount to attend the seminar, and since it is a philosophy seminar, I can bring my husband along, if I can find someone to leave the kids with. I have been reviewing it over and over again in my mind; however, I will not leave my kids in Oklahoma, while I am in St. Louis that is just not me. I want to go, but I don’t want to drag my husband along, and then make him watch the kids all weekend that just wouldn’t be fair. So, I finally decided to contact my friend, and she said that the seminar will have child care available right there in the hotel that we will be attending the seminar at. She said that her older daughter will be helping out with the child care there and that the cost for it is only $10.00 a day per child.

This is great! Now my husband and I can attend the seminar together this summer without worry. I know we will have a great time and chiropractic philosophy really keeps me focused on my goals and gets me really pumped up. This will be just what we need. I think I might add an extra day or two onto our trip so we can take in some of the sights in St. Louis, and also take the kids to the zoo there, which is absolutely free. All you have to do is pay for parking which I think is about $5 and that is it. I have also arranged for her daughter to watch the kids one night for us, so we can go downtown for a grown ups night out with my friend and her husband. There is a really great restaurant there that my friend has been dying to take me to. I found some really inexpensive accommodations nearby as the hotel that the seminar will be in is quite expensive. My friend Pat offered that I could stay with her while I am there, but I know that with the kids that will be a little much and since the seminar and child care are so cheap and we will drive to St. Louis, I will gladly pay for a hotel room for us all. It will be a real treat to get away and get really pumped up on a great philosophy weekend and squeeze in a little family time as well.

I use my debit card for everything. I rarely ever carry or pay cash even for the smallest item. It drives my husband crazy that I will send him to the store for a gallon of milk and expect him to use his debit card. He likes to pay cash for the little things, but it doesn't bother me at all to use the card even for a small purchase.

Recently, I have been giving a lot of thought to the big brother theory. If I use my debit card for everything, then truthfully anyone who is interested can track my every move. They will know my habits, like which stores I frequent and how much I spend. It is kind of like the internet, it is really tracking my every move. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but sometimes I think that it is a little scary. Anyone who has access to this information can tell exactly my path as I go through town running errands. They can tell what night I do my grocery shopping and where, and can even see everything I buy. The truth is that there was a time when using a card was safer than carrying cash, however, lately it seems like the merchants barely even look at the cards much less match the signature to them. In places like McDonalds and Subway for instance a purchase for less than $30.00 they don't even have you sign for anymore. It has gotten a little to casual for my comfort, where they just assume that whoever presents my card is me, no matter what or how they sign. In this day, it seems that they could begin using fingerprints or DNA to identify you as the correct person; however, I don't really want that info in the government's data base either.

I am seriously considering using cash more often for my purchases, as I just don't like the idea of my every move being followed or traced by an unknown source. If our government can trace our every move and the internet can also, who is to say that this information is not falling into the wrong hands as well. I just think that for our own protection and privacy, we should watch our information and only share it when necessary, this way if there is a problem, we know how our information got leaked.

Have you noticed that lately physicians are not treating diseases as they used to. Unlike in the past, most doctors are realizing that their over prescribing ways have given rise to a decrease in both a person's natural immunity and the effectiveness of the antibiotics that they are giving. In the current state of the world, the possibility exists of a biological attack. With this fact, all of a sudden the doctors are realizing that they may need all possible drugs available to thwart this type of attack. In the interim, they are claiming that most of the illnesses we have now are viral and no drugs are necessary.

The librarian at school was recently diagnosed with mono and was told by a physician that no antibiotics were necessary to resolve the problems. The only medication besides the over the counter ones available, they gave her steroids and sent her home. Now I don't know if you are aware of how dangerous steroid use can be, but let's put it this way, it puts some people completely out of their minds. I mean they actually become psychotic. It is scary that a doctor in this age would prefer giving someone steroids vs. a common antibiotic as would have been given in the past.

With this latest development in medicine, it seems to me that many people have become more reluctant to go to the doctor for colds and such. They are now realizing that a majority of doctors are not prescribing anything for these illnesses anyway, and the truth is why pay even a co-pay if a doctor is going to send you home just to have you take an over the counter medication. It is definitely not worth the time and energy of going to the MD if they are not going to prescribe anything.

My fear is that if less people are going to the doctor for these small illnesses, then what are the doctors going to do to generate more money. I am afraid that during the next few years, some of the surgeries that have withered in popularity will be returning. Some examples would be tonsillectomies, hysterectomies, and appendectomy. These surgeries, although less life threatening than most, may start to be increased to generate revenue for the struggling MD's. I really hope that I am wrong, yet somehow these doctors are going to need to make up the money lost by the inevitable decrease in office visits. I can't imagine that they are going to sit by and watch their livelihoods dwindle away, without taking action somehow.