“I am 71 years old. I am healthier and stronger at 71 than I was at 30 by every measure available. I get paid to be as healthy as I can and to support others in doing the same for themselves. I do not prescribe any drugs nor do I do any surgery. I teach and support people in discovering the innate wisdom of their own life and bodies. I am a Doctor of Chiropractic and Hellerwork Structural Integration Practitioner.
And I have mood swings that make me almost unrelatable only to those closest to me. I am afraid of being broke and alone, of totally embarrassing myself in some weird way, of being physically impaired to where I could not work, of growing old and I hate being told what to do by anyone. I am embarrassed by my own well hidden self pity.
It’s 4:30 in the afternoon, I am alone in my office. The lights are on, the blinds are open and I can hear muffled conversations from the office next door. I am dressed in my Saturday Levi’s and pink shirt doctor’s outfit. I am standing at my stand up desk. The insurance paperwork is scattered haphazardly around my desk. I spent the morning at the Wide Sky Men’s Council drumming and sharing, passing the talking stick and hearing men get real. There is some kind of physical energy release when we do not have to pretend for a moment or two. My own pretense is well hidden by my wide open tooth paste commercial smile and loving greeting I attempt to present wherever I go. I tend to keep the underground of my subconscious underground. And occasionally it will demand to be heard and explode or erupt into a shoulder injury or digestive upset or a brooding bout of self imposed isolation from anyone I love. This all happens for a time.
Then I snap out of it and become “happy go lucky Dr. Jim”. Who would know?
We are all a lot more alike than we know.
Witness the VA sign. Even the VA recognizes the authenticity and importance of Body, Mind and Spirit in all healing.
The phone rings, thank God.
“Good afternoon, this is Dr. Jim, what can I do for you?”
