Why I Am Running

One of my heroes, Mohandas Gandhi, taught that there are seven things that will destroy a people:

• Wealth without work
• Pleasure without conscience
• Knowledge without character
• Commerce without morality
• Science without humanity
• Worship without sacrifice
• Politics without principle

I fear for the future because I see these seven destructive forces creeping into our homes, our schools, and our government.  We are heading down a path that can only lead to a place of danger and despair.

One reason for this degeneration is that we are just so short-sighted, unable to see past the mark.  The wants and needs of daily life blind us to the big picture.  We rally around leaders who make great promises but fall short time and time again. Our leaders fail because they are also blind to the big picture.  They are so focused on putting out fires that they fail to properly address what is causing these emergencies to erupt in the first place: an abandonment of the values which make us strong and keep us strong.

As Gandhi's list instructs us, worthy accomplishments are meaningless if we forsake our values along the way.  Unfortunately, it happens all the time.  We find it all too easy to abandon our principles when they stand in the way of getting what is wanted or needed now.  It happens every day, in our homes, in our schools, in our places of business, and in our government.

So over the past few years, as I went about providing for my family and running my practice, I couldn't help but notice this decay.  I started to worry and complain about the wrong direction we are heading, but did nothing more than that, worry and complain...

Until it began.  A still, small voice, every now and then, whispers that I should step up and take action.  Enough talk.  Do something.  Over time, this "something" is clarified to mean a run for office and make a difference through government service.

With my heart telling me to run, however, my fears start to shout out the reasons why doing so would be a huge mistake! 

"You're too busy!"  My family needs me.  My church needs me.  My patients need me.  With all my time spread out so thin already, how would I ever find the energy and openings in my schedule for campaigning and working in the Legislature?

"People will hate you!"  Most folks can appreciate and respect the Honor Box.  However, by taking a stand on unpopular issues, people could easily turn against me.  The controversy of politics would make me an easy target for derision and ridicule.

"You are not qualified!"  I've got no law degree.  No experience in government.  I should leave politics to those with a greater aptitude and a more applicable background.

"You can't win against your opponent!"  My opponent is an incumbent who according to his web site was elected to the House in 1992.  He is the chair of the Education Committee.  He has the full backing of the Democratic Party.

Compelling reasons to just sit back and watch it all from the sidelines, right?

So why am I doing this?  How did I silence the shouting of my fears and resolve to follow that still, small voice?

Simply put, I have come to believe that it is my duty to follow this path.

My duty to my country and state.  My duty for my friends and family.  And yes, my duty to God.

With all that I've been given in this life, all the opportunities and experiences (both joyful and discouraging), I stand prepared and ready to run, win and serve.

Finding and accepting your duty is a powerful thing.

And as I embark on this journey, I keep these words spoken by President Theodore Roosevelt deep in my heart:

"It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."

I enter this arena, no longer a critic, but instead a fighter.  I humbly ask you to join me in this battle.  Let's fight the good fight for our families, our friends, our Hawaii.  Let's fight for our principles and values first and foremost; the political and partisan issues placed second.

We can do this.

Do you have my back?

The Killer Flu and Chiropractic

I took this from the November 2009 newsletter written by Dr. Tedd Koren:

These are statistics from the 1918-1919 killer flu which killed millions under medical care:

• The Palmer School of Chiropractic had one death out of 1,635 cases while Iowa DCs reported 6 deaths out of 4,735 cases.
• MDs (Davenport) lost one patient out of every 15 (6,116 deaths out of 93,590 patients).

[Rhodes WR. The Official History of Chiropractic in Texas. Austin, TX: Texas Chiropractic Association. 1978 andChiropractic statistics. The Chiropractic Research and Review Service. Indianapolis, IN: Burton Shields Press. 1925.]

Once infected by a virus, why would a chiropractic patient do better than a medical patient back then?

And today, 90 years later, wouldn't the same hold true?

Change

I've made a huge decision.

Only a few know about it so far, but it won't be long now before I broadcast my intentions out to the world.

Life-changing choice.  A new path.

A new opportunity to serve.

I will keep you posted.

The Jingle

A few months before I implemented the Honor Box, I had a patient come in desperately wanting chiropractic care.  When I explained my fees to her and her husband, I was made a counter offer.

"Money is a little tight right now for us," the husband explained.  "Can we make a trade instead?  I'll compose and create a jingle package in exchange for you helping my wife with chiropractic."

A jingle?  What the heck would I do with a jingle?  Is this guy for real?

I was, at the time, not spending a dime on advertising.  No radio.  No TV ads.  No wait, I think perhaps I was running a small ad in The PennySaver.  But that was it.

A jingle?  What the heck would I do with a jingle?

But I agreed to the deal.  I honestly thought it was pretty much like I was adjusting her for free-- that I was receiving the short end of the stick with this trade, getting just a useless, amateur product in exchange for my professional chiropractic services.

Wrong!

Photo by Creative Minds 808First, this musician took the time to sit down and work with me in discovering the feel, the vibe, and the message of the jingle.  We came up with the hook, "Who's got your back?" and set it to a Jawaiian groove.  This guy recorded the jingle in a professional studio playing all the instruments and doing the vocals himself.

Then about two weeks after we agreed to the deal, he presented me with my jingle package: an audio CD with 8 tracks, some with intros, outros, and a few "doughnuts" (tracks with an intro and an outro).  The jingle package was ready for radio and TV spots.

Of course, I still had no intention at the time to run any commercials.  How could I afford that?

But man oh man!  Did I have a cool jingle!

If you haven't heard it yet, click here to go to my website home page.  It will play automatically in about seven seconds.

So the barter went down like this: I gave $1000.00 worth of chiropractic care to his wife and I got a jingle package in trade.

Now more than eight years later, I can honestly say that I got the better deal.

At first I thought I was getting something of little worth, what I ended up with instead has been a blessing and a resource beyond measure.

• Having such a cool jingle did motivate me to find advertising opportunities to show it off
• The jingle anchored many radio spots on stations like 92.3 KSSK, Island Rhythm 98.5 and ESPN1420
• The following year, I was able to network with an account manager at KHON2 who was able to get me on TV at very affordable rates.  The jingle has played on every spot.
• A few years back, Ernie Cruz, Jr. graciously agreed to star in a new commercial for me and even wanted to compose his own version of the jingle.
• Since 2001, this jingle has helped me effectively brand my practice and the Honor Box throughout the islands

But most importantly, I learned a great life lesson:

You never know what hidden value something or someone may have.  What may at first appear to be of little worth, may in fact hold a tremendous life-changing benefit within only to be manifested months or years down the road.  We must be careful before dismissing and disregarding something that only seems worthless.  It might actually be of great worth, beyond our wildest dreams.

An adjustment.

A stranger.

A jingle!

Localization and Prevention

“Localization: the determination of the points at which functions or pathological conditions originate.” (pg. 207)

                                                      --Lippincott’s New Medical Dictionary

When a patient receives a migraine medication, like RELPAX or Imitrex, has the problem truly been localized?  Nope.  The drug is prescribed to cover up the pain, not to eliminate the cause of the headache.  In fact, in most cases, the exact cause of the migraine is never discovered.

The obvious problem with focusing only on alleviating the symptom instead of going after the cause is that the source of the problem remains ignored.  So why do most patients accept the omission of localization from their doctors?  Simply because the drugs make it feel like things are getting better.  The pain is relieved and without the pain indicator, many are fooled into thinking the source of the symptom has been taken care of... but in reality, the cause of the pathological condition persists.  And often times worsens day by day.

If the migraine is caused by a subluxated atlas, correct that subluxation!

You can take all the prescription medications you want, but no matter how many pills you pop, the drugs will never ever move that misaligned vertebra back into place.

It is interesting that this principle of localization applies to most of the problems we encounter in life-- whether these problems be physical, financial, or even spiritual.  We need to be aware of the root cause of whatever crisis we are in and work to correct that root cause instead of desperately searching for quick fixes to eliminate the pain.

The higher principle of localization is, of course, prevention.  Successful prevention of a painful crisis occurs when we determine a pathological condition way before that problem elicits any suffering.  This is the wisdom behind wellness, wealth and inner peace.

"There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see, yet small enough to solve."

                                                                                --Mike Leavitt