Structure is the path to freedom.

Last week I had the great pleasure of delivering one of my favorite workshops (Total Life Conditioning) to an eager crowd of about 100 patients, Bonfire members and random guests.  I was first introduced to the concept by one of my mentors Dr. CJ Mertz at a retreat in Texas in 1999.  (To learn more about TLC read here)

I can usually spot the new-comers during the question and answer period that naturally follows each presentation.  Each workshop topic has its moment.  There is an inflection point that shifts the audience in their seats.  The eyebrows raise, the heads tilt, the whispering begins.

Total Life Conditioning promotes a very conscious, deliberate way of living in balance and on purpose.

This lifestyle requires discipline and structure.  A purpose driven person will seek to master their time, energy, focus and money.  Schedules will be kept, budgets will be followed.  Of course the world will throw its agenda into the mix, but the On-Purpose person will choose to keep the path.

For many, this doesn’t sound like much fun.  All that structure? It seems so rigid.

A well-balanced life is anything but rigid.

I paddled out at Straw’s Point early this morning into perfect ground swell groomed by light westerly winds.  The waves were back-lit by the rising morning sun.  The water was unusually warm – as were the surfers packed in side by side at the peak – satiated by the last three straight days of hurricane waves.   I exchanged glances and head-nods with the familiar faces around me and waited out the first set of waves filling in at the point.   As surf etiquette states: first come, first served.

This morning it was easy to be patient and wait for my turn.  It was Monday morning, and soon the crowd would thin and head-off to work.  But not me, I had called in healthy.

Part of a well-balanced life is knowing when you’d be better off just playing.  Living On Purpose creates greater flexibility in your life.  Structure provides better stability and predictability.  When the conditions in life come together to create storms; this lifestyle will better equip you to ride them out.  And then when the wind switches, you’ll also be more likely to enjoy the waves.

Now go call in healthy,

Dr. Stephen Franson

We’ve all been there.  You are halfway down the first isle of the grocery store when you realize that you’ve selected a cart with a sticky wheel.  The cart squeaks and sputters along, pulling to the right – dangerously close the stack of pickles perched precariously on the end-cap of isle one.

As a chiropractor I am naturally drawn to the deeper meaning of the terms balance and alignment.  There are physical applications that are obvious:  a joint out of alignment disturbs function and creates imbalance.  Restore alignment and restore balance and function.  If only it were so easy above C1.

 The deeper issues of alignment, imbalance and dysfunction warrant our attention as well.  Long term misalignment in the body produces wasting and weakness – or “de-conditioning”.  The same can be said with the structure and health of our lifestyles.  Imbalance between the categories of our lives creates stress and dysfunction that can derail you as readily as a disc Herniation.  But not all imbalance manifests as an acute issue – screaming out for attention.  More common is the insidious reality of chronic, low-grade inequity that pulls us off-track lick a sticky wheel.

Total Lifestyle Conditioning speaks to the conscious and deliberate process of strategic living.  

Regardless of our situation or challenges, we are constantly faced with the opportunity to make the best choices.  Every free man and woman gets to chose behaviors, relationships and environments that will largely predict our experience – every day.  How are you designing your life?

Are your choices in line with your Life Purpose?  Do you know your Purpose?  Your Life Purpose Statement answers the question: Why do I exist?

Do you have a Mission Statement? This answers the question: How are you going to live-out your Purpose?  How are you going to point you life?

Are these both in alignment with your Vision Statement?  This answers the question: How do you see the world?  What possibility do you see?  How do you see your role in this becoming a reality?

It is too easy to allow the busyness of everyday life to stifle the inner voice that asks these questions.  The pull of the world is powerful and unrelenting.  If we are not careful to adopt rituals that create a mechanism to ensure quiet time and reflection in our lives; we will get swept into another day by the undercurrent of our lives.

Join us on Wednesday, August 23, 2010 for Total Lifestyle Conditioning, a deep-dive into these pressing questions.  Bring your wobbling wagon, challenging situation, frustrating relationship, honest curiosity, hopeful optimism, deepest confusion or unbridled inspiration to one of the most dynamic discussions of your life.

See you there.

Dr. Stephen Franson

“I am a simple man.”  ~Forest Gump

I prefer simple concepts.  There is an inherent beauty in simple, yet profound illustrations.  I believe that humans have a tendency to over complicate everything, and in the process, accomplish less.

Think of your life as a wheel rolling down the street.  Life is flowing and abundant when the wheel is turning smoothly.  It seems to roll on effortlessly, carried by its own momentum.  By nature, the wheel travels along upright and stable, and as long as a particular velocity is kept, the wheel turns.  Down the hills, it accelerates.  Across the flats, a smooth surface seems to be all that the wheel requires to run endlessly.

Physics tells us that an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless another force acts upon it.   Life has friction.  The constant, minute resistance to flow in our lives slows our wheel and creates “wobble.”  This friction presents itself every day and in every way.  In our relationships, our jobs, our bodies, and in our minds – resistance to flow, progress…momentum.

Of course there are the inclines, the debris, and the objects that we run into.  Our wheel can hit a bump – or a wall - that stops us dead in our tracks.  And then there you are, laying on your side, wondering what just happened.  You’re left hoping that someone will come along, pick you up, and help you to get rolling again.

Too often patients view a doctor’s role this way – someone to pick me up and dust me off after a fall.  Sure, we love to step in and save the day.  Every doctor strives to meet needs in a crisis.  We work, study, and pray to have the right skills at the right time to get the wheel upright again and back on the road.  But I think that we can do better.

I believe that my role is to reduce “the wobble.”

We recognize that there are specific behaviors that you can choose to include in your life that promote greater velocity and stability.  Likewise, there are choices that you can make that will clearly create bumps and rubs – wobble.

My view of chiropractic care is simple:  pick up tires and get them rolling.  Point out the course that is known to be smooth and exhilarating.  Run alongside of them and keep them on track…a tap, a push, a word.

Life will certainly provide its own obstacle course; the biggest idea is to choose the path that best predicts a smoother ride.

Now get rolling,

Doc

Dr. Stephen Franson

I have had the pleasure of knowing Annie-Bo-Banny- Fi-Fy-Fo-Fanny for nearly 17 years.  Annie is my dog.  We rescued her from a box in a garage in Atlanta, Georgia and our lives have been richer for it ever since.  She has followed us to Virginia, Arkansas, Massachusetts and now, New Hampshire. 

Annie is in the winter of her life now.  I sit with her on the floor and tell her how much I love her and how I want her to know that she’s been a great friend.  She is a study in a life well-lived.  As her time draws near, I feel almost selfish asking for another day with her.

She has taught me countless life lessons during that time.  I would love to share some of them with you. 

Everything that I needed to know about being a good father I learned from my dog.

A dog needs time and patience.  The early front end investment of time and focus with your dog will pay huge dividends for a lifetime.  Annie has always been my tone detector.  Whenever the tone of my voice hints of frustration or upset, she quietly leaves the room.  Dogs, like children, never go from point A to point B in a straight line.  This is an adjustment for a borderline efficiency neurotic.  Potty time is always a mixed agenda.  You can’t just up and leave town if you have a dog.  You have to arrange for someone to babysit.  This is a great interview opportunity for future childcare - for both parties.  If your dog is a disaster; chances are your children will be as well. A household is a Totem Pole.  When children arrive, you can descend the pole gracefully.

Everything that I needed to know in order to be a good doctor I learned from my dog.

Dogs can’t tell you where it hurts. When a dog throws-up, we ask “What did the dog eat? “ When a child throws-up; everyone asks “What should you give them for it?” Dogs will eat grass when their stomach is upset in order to provoke vomiting.  Dogs are smart.  So are people.

Dogs have a better chance of living to 17 if you feed them what dogs eat.  Not, mind you, what the ads, “scientific diets” or the local dog whisperer might recommend.  My dog whispers too, and all she says is “meat”.  In the wild, dogs eat rabbits, squirrel, rodents, fowl and any carcass that they come across.  So that is what my dogs eat.   Sort of.  Our dog eats raw beef and raw vegetables mixed with bone meal, fish oil and digestive enzymes. 

(She hits it like a kid at an ice cream buffet.  Every meal is a celebration for Annie.  Even a deaf dog can sense the vibration of the silverware drawer from across the house at meal times. I am always amazed at the reaction that I get when I describe Annie’s diet-style to others.  People question the “raw” meat.  I fight back all sarcasm as I explain that dogs don’t cook their food in nature.)

 But vegetables?  Yes.  When a wild dog gets a rabbit in nature the first thing that they eat is the stomach to get the vegetation that the animal just ate.  Then the brains and bone marrow – loaded with essential fatty acids.  You can substitute fish oil for brains and marrow. Every time a dog eats; they go outside and go the bathroom.  What a great idea. You should try it –but stay inside when appropriate.

Everything that I needed to know in order to be a good man I learned from my dog.

You get further with loyalty, gentleness and obedience.  Not everyone likes dogs; like them anyway. You only have 1 tail.  Wag it.  Dogs move constantly, exert themselves regularly and rest at every opportunity.  Sometimes it’s just time to lie down in the sun.  Drink water only. Jump in it if you can. It’s okay to be dirty. Say hi to everybody.  Show outward signs of affection.  There’s always time for a good scratch. Make it obvious to others when you need one.  Affection is infinitely divisible; give it away freely.  And regardless of behavior, attitude or situation – unconditional love is a way of living.  It’s given; not earned.

Now go scratch someone,

Stephen Franson

The best leaders in the world are great followers.  In order to lead, you must know how to follow.

I surround myself with experts.  Each of these individuals is carefully selected – vetted through my own triple filtration system of “Knows it, teaches it, lives it.”  I was immediately struck by Dr. Guy Riekeman’s description of his Virtual Board of Trustees the first time that I heard him discuss it.  I realized that I had been consciously, but passively assembling my own group of mentors and models – my board members.  In an effort to maximize my life, I now actively and deliberately seek out my advisors. I am committed to good followship.

One of my board members died yesterday.

Because I had known him my whole life, he has sat in many chairs around my boardroom table.  He taught me how to ski, be a better big brother, friend, husband and father.  He and my father were best friends and I learned a lot about lifelong male friendships by simply watching the two of them enjoy each other.  He mentored me through college, opened his home to me while away at school and always found time to take a poor college student out for a beer.

More recently, he had served as my financial advisor.  Steeped in knowledge and experience, his advice was always shrewd and direct.  I always appreciated his insight – even if his staunch conservatism seemed to dampen my pathological optimism.  Overtime, his record stood on its own and I grew to trust him implicitly.

If Steve said jump, I said how high on the way up.

We shared a strong and sincere mutual admiration and respect.  But our dialogue was always flavored with a sarcastic recognition of the unilaterality in compliance to one another’s professional recommendations. I followed his advice to the letter – and pleaded with him to follow mine.  I would consistently, although half-jokingly, needle him about his lack of reciprocation in following my recommendations for his health.  Don’t get me wrong; he certainly made an effort.  He quit smoking, lost weight and started exercising.

But truthfully, our lives today are extraordinarily demanding.  He was a man who carried great responsibility and with that, the accompanying great mental stress.  As with our financial management, our health management requires extraordinary diligence.  We must deliberately gather and execute specific strategies and methods to maximize our return.  It is a science.  It is an active process.  And the world works against it.

If you find yourself in my crosshairs this week, know that I am going to let you have it.  You should also know that it has everything to do with you.  And you should take it personally.  I wish that I had another opportunity to spend time with Steve.  I won’t with him, but I will with you.  I will tell you what I wish that I could tell him: I love you so much that I will do whatever it takes to help you move towards health with every choice, every day.

From within,

Dr. Stephen Franson