"The only real education comes from what goes counter to you."

Andre Gide

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January 2005

Hey, we’re having a patient appreciation pool and pizza party on Sunday January 23. If you are receiving this, you’re invited! Refer to Office Happenings for more details.

Contents

1. Never Give Up
2. Carol’s Musings (a must read!)
3. Fitness Corner
4. Health News
5. Office Happenings

Never Give Up

I had the good fortune of spending the holiday season in Florida. During that time, I attended a college football bowl game on New Year’s Day involving the University of Iowa and Louisiana State University (LSU). It was a spectacle to say the least. If you ever get the opportunity to see one, do it. But it was the game itself and how it unfolded that left a lasting impression on me.

The game was exciting to watch from start to finish. I was cheering for Iowa as I have many connections to the state and university. There were many momentum shifts where one team would carry the play and seemed to be in control. Then, in a blink of an eye, it would switch to the other team. As the game entered the fourth quarter, Iowa was poised for a victory. They were up by 12 points and playing well. Just like with life, things can change. LSU scored two touchdowns, one with 48 seconds to play to go ahead by one point.

Hope was fading fast for Iowa and its fans. Not many teams can drive back and score with so little time left on the clock. After completing two passes, Iowa had the ball at their 46 yard line with 14 seconds left. On the ensuing play, Iowa’s quarter back found an open receiver who caught the ball at the ten yard line and ran it in to the end zone for the winning score as time expired. Needless to say, pandemonium ensued.

The next day when I read the newspaper summary of the game, I learned that the receiver who caught the winning touchdown was participating in his last game at the collegiate level. He had never caught a touchdown pass in his four years on the team. What an incredible way to end your college career. Do you think that he ever thought of giving up on playing football because he had never scored a touchdown? I would think the answer would be yes. Was he there on the field on the last play, prepared and ready to make the biggest catch of his life? Absolutely.

This player continued to go to practice, hit the weight room, attend team meetings and just show up. He didn’t score the winning touchdown in his first game, it took until the final play of his final game and, wow, was it a huge one. He didn’t give up. Have you ever thought, “To heck with all this healthy stuff I do, it doesn’t make a difference!”? It does make a difference. Keep taking your vitamins, stay regular with your chiropractic care and exercising. It’s not a guarantee that you will never have problems but when you need your body to perform, it will be there for you. You could score the winning “touchdown” in the biggest game of your life. Never give up!

Carol’s Musings

The Gift of Choice

With the often frantic holiday season now behind us we face a fresh new year. Many of us find ourselves at this time a year doing some contemplating of the days gone past and what lies in wait for us in those days to come. While some things in life are seemly beyond our control, there are infinitely more things that are very much within our ability to shape and mold.

It is after all, our life and what a gift that life is. To live out our days with the thinking or assumption that we don’t have any real say on how it goes is a hard way to exist. We shape our own destinies by the choices we make. That is an enormous amount of responsibility to place on a person! But then again, who would you trust that responsibility to better than yourself?? You have to be accountable to yourself for the choices you make.

Do you choose happiness over sadness, friendship over loneliness, community over self? Do you want wellness over sickness, performance over routine, being great over just getting by? This year if you aren’t happy with the course that your life has taken, what you have, how you feel or what you have become - choose different over the same. Try something you haven’t tried before. You have been given the gift of choice – choose. 

Carol Simpson

Fitness Corner

It’s the New Year and dreams of a fit and healthy you are dancing through your head. Subscribe to Scott McDermott’s fantastic free newsletter (send an email to mybestbody@shaw.ca) to start your self off on the right foot. It’s full of great and helpful information that will help you achieve your goals. 

Health News

Vitamin C may be cancer fighter

Vitamin C has long been hailed as an immune system booster and antioxidant. New research has revealed that it plays a role in fighting heart disease and cancer. Research has demonstrated how it reacts with and neutralizes the toxic byproducts of human fat metabolism. Maintaining or increasing your Vitamin C intake should be added to your resolutions! To read more: http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/522906/main.html

Drug company knew of Prozac’s risks in 1980’s: report

“Internal documents from Eli Lilly and Co. appear to indicate that the drug maker had data more than 15 years ago showing that adverse-effect reports for Prozac were far more likely to list suicide attempts and violence than reports for other antidepressants.” To read more: http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2004/12/31/Prozac041231.html

A lawsuit alleges that company officials knew for years that an increase in violence, including suicides, can be side effects of Prozac. They failed to report this data to the CDC. Prozac joins Vioxx on the list of cover-ups by drug companies during 2004. How many lives have to be lost before things change? Where are the inquiries? 

Office Happenings 

1. Patient Appreciation Event. We’re having a party. A pool and pizza party to be exact. Join us at the Michener Recreation Centre from 4 – 6 pm on Sunday January 23 for an afternoon of fun and food. Everyone is invited but please contact Carol to let her know you are coming so we can get an accurate head count. See you there!

2. Thank Goodness for Prosperity Event. Thanks to the generosity of our patients, we were able to make Christmas a little brighter for a single mom and her two daughters this year. Thanks again to all those who donated to such a great cause.

3. Wellness Orientation Workshops. Do you have a New Year’s resolution about getting healthier in 2005? Do you have a spouse or friend who would like an introduction to our office? Join us for one of our Wellness Orientation Workshops (W.O.W.’s) in January. The dates are Wednesday January 12 and Monday January 17 and they start at 5:30 p.m. here at the office.

4. Office Closings. The office will be closed until 3 p.m. on Thursday January 13. Sorry for any inconvenience.