A note to non-enthusists

The following post originally aired on www.thegreengiants.com September 27th, 2007. I enjoyed it so much I decided to "Ctrl C" "Ctrl V" it to our blog. (Maxx that's how you copy and paste.) Being as I am the writer I hope no one tries to pin me with plagiarism. For those of you who have read it a new one's on the way, for those of you who haven't there's still time to shop for a costume, or at the least start planning for next year.

The grand old time of year we like to call Halloween is quickly approaching and I would like to take a moment to address the rather small group of people who find it necessary to purchase a $10 t-shirt that says “I don’t do costumes”.

I realize that you probably fall into a “group” of social friends who may agree with you this holiday is one you outgrew once your parents quit dressing you. However you view yourself, whether it be skater, preppy, goth, nerd, loner, busy working mom, real estate pro, business entrepreneur or one of the other labels amongst the myriad of choices I have a what may be shocking announcement for you. Here goes:

If Halloween comes and you are not in costume we (the rest of the world) will know by the fact that you are not in costume that you “don’t do costumes”. It’s that simple, you can now feel free to take the $10 and put it towards a pocket protector, new stickers for your skate board, business card magnets (free @ vistaprint.com), or just get an iced breve from Starbucks and sit back watching the rest of us have fun.

See it’s that simple after all those of us who do dress up on Halloween don’t feel the need to go out and buy a t-shirt that states “I do costumes” which we would then wear over our costume. That would be pointless so why do the opposite?

One last note & this is how we really get you. One definition of the word “costume” is: a set of garments selected for wear at a single time; AH-HA, so this t-shirt that you’re buying to wear on Halloween is in turn what you dread the most A COSTUME!! How do you like that for your burgers? If it fits the requirements flip it over and start grilling. Hopefully the t-shirt designers will make one that says “I don’t do costumes, except for this shirt which I bought only for this evening making it a costume, so next year I should really put more thought to it like the Green Giants do”

Occurrences

This just occurred to me. Kinda like in a movie when one person knows what's going on and you as the viewer are "in the loop" but the other character doesn't know anything so from their perspective things are really funny to everyone, and again, I quote "in the loop". And Noel and Celeste if you did know this before hand then just make believe that you didn't because it's that imagination whether true or false that really makes this great. Maybe more like a classic episode of Seinfeld.

Yesterday and today were Patient Appreciation Days at the office. This meant yesterday any existing patient could bring in 3 non-parishible food items, to go to the Victory Mission and in turn get a free adjustment (approx a $35 value) today any new patient could bring the same and get a complementary consultation, exam, and any necessary x-rays (at most about a $250 value). We had been promoting this for over a month and while a good day for us is usually seeing 20-30 patients yesterday we saw 71. Each month it's our goal to see 20 new patients and today we beat that by 1. In addition to the complementary treatments we also decorated, had food, there was fun festive music and balloons everywhere, plus at any given time yesterday there were about 5-8 people just kinda hanging out.

In the midst of the celebration yesterday in walk Noel and Celeste. Now I'm just thinking hey there's Noel and Celeste, and although it was one of those moments when you want to say something like "Hey everyone it's Noel and Celeste!" I refrained. They popped in chatted said "Hi" to the Doctor and then left. This was normal for me because I, and if anyone has a different saying let me know, was "in the loop".

Just a few minutes ago it hit me that maybe Noel and Celeste didn't know that we were having Patient Appreciation Days. In that case, which I'm believing is the truth because it makes me laugh, their "out of the loop" movie view would have been something like this:

A hazy dream-like fog fills the screen and we see Noel and Celeste come into view driving from Barnes and Noble north on Glenstone.

Noel "Hey we should stop by and see Janelle at work"
Celeste "That's a great idea babe, let's do it"
Noel "She really likes working there, that's exciting. I really like designing web-sites that's exciting too. Didn't you go to a Chiropractor when you were a cheerleader"
Celeste "Yup, it was great. We should make hummus when we get home"
Noel "Mmmmm hummus. Yeah let's watch some Monk after church also, it's a good Monk day"
(turning into the parking lot)
Celeste "That's a funny roof, 417 should have us write a story on funny roofs we've seen"
Noel "I'll mention it to Greg tomorrow, I bet he'd go for it"
(walking in)
Janelle being surprised "Hey guys what are you doing?"
Noel "My back hurts"
Janelle "Really?"
Noel "No we were just around and thought we'd stop by and say hi"
Janelle "Oh good. Dr Falukos this is my brother"
Dr. Falukos "Hey Noel"
Noel "Hey"
Dr. Falukos "I saw your picture in 417"
Noel "Yeah we're gonna write a story on funny roofs for them"
Dr. Falukos "Mr. Price I'm ready for you"
Noel "Ok I guess we'll see you later"
Janelle "K Love you"
Noel and Celeste "Bye"
(leaving)
Noel "That was kinda like being in a Mexican Restaurant, that was salsa music playing right?"
Celeste "Yeah, I thought maybe I was having a weird dream"
Noel "No wonder Janelle likes her job so much if people just come, hang out and eat cookies and meatballs all day"
Celeste "My chiropractor never had balloon garland hanging everywhere in his office"
Noel "I bet it was Janelle's idea she was probably like 'hey Dr Falukos why don't we hang balloons everywhere and play loud music then we can serve food also".
Celeste "She should really have her own show"
Noel "I'm still excited about hummus"
(end)

So little did Noel and Celeste know that much more was going on than me just simply deciding to festive up the office. It was all part of a master plan. A master plan to make people who just walked in question, if only for a moment, "Have I entered the Twilight Zone?"

Follow Your Fears

In 1994 Nelson Mandela opened his inaugural speech by saying, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are more powerful beyond measure". This is and has been a very powerful statement in my life over the past few years and even more so over the past few weeks. As humans we get used to being knocked down whether we were the last to get picked for dodge ball, our parents got divorced, we suffered a loss of a loved one, we get used to pain in one form or another. More often than not we carry that pain into adult hood. Sure we're over being the last picked, or being made fun of, but we replace it with a variety of other things. Some choose over-spending, others it's dooming relationships from the start, or it might be sticking with a dead end job, drinking, being a bad friend, the list goes on and on.

We get used to the pain and we adapt, we learn how to find another relationship, pay bills if only the minimum, go to the job we dread, and continue on because we've been taught that you can't have it all. We've been taught that we have to settle and only deserve so much. That a dream is just that a dream it's o.k. to dream but realize that you'll wake up. You can wish upon a star but the stars will never be in your reach. It is so sad that as people we are taught this and we believe it.

We get scared to look for something better because that would mean change. We're afraid of change because what if we fail? It's often easier to stick with what we're doing than to grab hold of our fears by the hand and say "come on I'm in charge and by following you I'm going to make a difference". Maxx and I are going on two weeks w/o buying any alcohol, for those of you who know me and us this is a pretty big change. We realized that we were too comfortable with our pain and we also realized that we hadn't made any changes because we were fearful of giving up the pain that we had become so fond of however subconscious the fondness was. We also realized that it was going to take a drastic change and that we were going to have to be strong and make each other strong. So here we are, following our fear of not having pain.

I realize our situation does not apply to everyone. It's a universal truth it's hard to many things because we're AFRAID. We don't get the clients we deserve because we're afraid to approach people, we think "they might laugh at me or tell me no". So what? We're afraid of coming on too strong, or asking for the raise we know we deserve, or talking about something that's bothering us. This is crazy to me, what is it that makes some people "special" enough to be millionaire's and others not, how are some people happy no matter the circumstances and others not? The answer is they chased their fear, they realized they had to to what might be uncomfortable to be a better person. We are all beautiful beings made by a wonderful God who created us in His image. Once we realize that we don't have to live with pain and make the decision to proceed and make changes ridding our lives of what ever's holding us back it becomes easy to let the pain go and begin living our dreams.

Dreams do come true. Wish upon a star, we may not be able to physically touch it but our thought sends out millions of vibrations that reach it. We are capable of what ever we set our minds to, whether we want money, love, friends, health, it's all ours when we accept and expect it. It may take doing something physically uncomfortable and "following a fear" for some for others it may be more of an emotional journey in their thoughts and speech. We get what we expect and if we expect debt, illness, a bad job, or nonsupporting loved ones, that's what we get. On the other hand if we expect abundance, health, a career we love, and a great family, friends, and spouse that's what we get.

Nelson Mandela's speech went on to say, "It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Have a beautiful week, you deserve it!