By Dr. Drew Rubin
770-937-6300

                What do we want most in life?  Is it possible to get everything in life that we want, without sacrificing our lives in pursuit of the American dream?  Is it possible to be extraordinarily healthy, happy, and financially abundant?   Is it possible to live a balanced life in a world that is so unbalanced?  The answer is yes, and it’s all a matter of choice.  And one of the most underrated choices I’ve seen is called ‘family values and your health.’

                Is a commitment to your health and your families’ health a primary family value?  For most, probably not.   I know of a man who did not place health as a family value.   This man was talking to one of my patients a few months ago at work.  15 minutes later my friend hears shrieks a few cubicles away.  Her coworker had a massive heart attack and had keeled over onto his back.  By the time the paramedics came, it was too late.  He was a young guy who “was never sick a day in his life,” and lived in the fast lane, the road to success.   His lack of commitment to ‘family values and his health’ now leave his beloved wife and children in a desperate place.  The entire family pays the price of ill health, not just the person with the health challenge. People and even major companies are realizing how ill health, sickness, and disease, or any other effect of an unhealthy lifestyle, can radically damage even the tightest family relationships.   People are using their FSA’s and MSA’s to fund a whole new wave of wellness into their lives, including gym memberships, healthy cooking classes, and regular chiropractic care.   

                How does one get healthy using family values?  By asking different questions than the average person might. You use a simple question.  When you need an answer, ask “What does____think about this?”  Substitute in that ‘blank’ either God, your family, or your body.   You know what is right by what you feel in your heart as an answer.  For example, did you ever do something, and then right after you did it, you said, “ooh, I knew I shouldn’t have done that?”  Then why did you do it?  Because you didn’t listen to the ‘wee small voice’ inside.  YOU KNEW, but you did it anyway.  It’s a human tendency to listen to the loud, enticing voice, rather than the soft voice within you.

                THE KEY TO A SUPERIOR LIFE IS TO LISTEN!  God, family, and/or your body are talking to you at all times.  LISTEN.   The special gift you get when you begin to listen is: the more you listen, the more messages you will receive, gently pushing and tugging you in the right direction.

You want to be healthier?  Then ask your body, “What do you think about my current health practices?  Are they getting me to a healthier place?” Then listen for the answer, and act on what you hear.  One patient just told me that she’s heard from so many people about the relationship of drinking soda with osteoporosis and kidney stones in the last week that she’s finally listening.  Another told me that she didn’t want her kids to have the same problems with their backs as she does with hers, so she brought them in for care even though they have NO SYMPTOMS!  That’s called listening!

                Truly assess your life.  Are you waking up early in the morning to prepare yourself for the day, or are you getting up late after hitting the snooze button 5 times?   Then do you race through your morning rituals (coffee, quick shower, donut, cigarette, newspaper) and drive recklessly like a guided missile to work to get there huffing and puffing and 5 minutes late, day after day after day?  Or do you get up early, on purpose, after going to bed early, and meditate, pray, exercise, and eat a healthy breakfast?  This is called creating a great start to another great day.

                If you keep on doing what you are doing, you’ll keep on getting what you are getting.  Change what you do; change what you’ll get.  Not satisfied with what you’re getting?  Then its time to change!  Time to ask questions, ask better questions.

                Get out of the race altogether and design your life, today.  Design it around family values.  And watch as your health and the health of your family increases dramatically.  As you make better and better decisions, be the role model for your family, and lead them to making better and healthier decisions.             

Help your children grow up with healthy values of their own, memories that last a lifetime.  Parents can show their children how important it is to contribute towards health on a regular basis, and how health is a family value.  What a legacy you can leave your children!   One 11 year old girl in one of our many chiropractic families put it this way, so simply and eloquently: “If 10 minutes out of my time can help me stay healthy and have a better life, who could say no?” 

The author, Dr. Drew Rubin, has been running a  family chiropractic practice for over 25 years, where he specializes in gentle adjusting for children and pregnant women.  Dr. Rubin is also  an author, faculty at Life University, and public speaker. His wife Dr. Lisa and son Palmer are the joys of his life.  He practices in East Cobb and can be reached at 770-937-6300.