I was incredibly humbled to be a pallbearer at my grand uncle Tanny’s funeral this week. (Which is why we were out of the office on Wednesday) He is my grandmother’s younger brother on my father’s side and as my cousin was telling a part of his story yesterday, I was struck with so much humility.
Whenever I hear how much our ancestors went through to be here, I feel lazy.
He traveled at 11 all the way from China to the United States by boat to be reunited with his dad, my great grandfather. 5 men in our family (my grandfather, his brother and father and my grand uncle and his father) were the first in our family to come to the United States during World War II to start a new life.
My grandpa was so grateful at the opportunity just to be in America that served in World War II in the US Army Air Corps. He and I are the only two who have an extensive military background in our family. My grand uncle Tanny was too young at the time and the war ended before he could serve.
It’s so hard to believe that just two generations ago, our family was literally on a different continent, citizens of a different country. I literally would not exist if they didn’t not come to the United States. Who knows if some of them would have seen adulthood.
I feel so incredibly lucky to know this is my heritage. This is my family. This is why FAMILY is one of our core values at Future Generations. I do not take them for granted nor do we as a staff take you for granted.
There is a saying in chiropractic: “to Love, Give, and Serve out of a sense of our abundance”. The theme of this month is Giving and to be completely honest, each word has a similar meaning to me… essentially it’s about service to a grander purpose that simply self-gain and profit.
We had a patient a few years ago say something to the effect of ‘raising your fees to pay your bills huh?’. She addressed this with one of my assistants and I was honestly taken aback because it was such a foreign concept to me.
I will say this plainly and clearly: we have never and will never raise our fees for overhead. Personally, I think it is the lowest vibrational energy to run a business with and for my entire career, I 100% allow you to take me to task on this.
I travel 15-20 weekends a year. I am required to do 24 continuing education credits every two years and I clock over 200-250 easily. I am not one of those doctors who sits in the CE seminar on the last possible weekend before they are due. I choose classes I love because it will ultimately increase my level of inspiration and directly improve our level of service for you and our community.
Everything we do is about service.
I say this not to impress you but since I was 17 years old, I was immersed in an environment of servant leadership. One of my patients asked me a few years ago, “You’ve suffered Dr. Stan?”.
I was surprised from the question because on one end, no, I have not – not compared to my ancestors. But the well-being I have been working on for the past 12 years did not come as a result of being well. It came as a result of major health challenges that started young and continued in throughout my time in the army. And to this day, everyday, I take great care of myself and my loved ones.
Your health is a reflection of your habits way more so than your genes or any other factors. This is a 100% biological fact.
The recommendations I make today are not easy ones to swallow. I know that. We ask for your commitment of time, energy and money as an investment for a life of greater health which we see as the foundation for all other aspects of life.
What drives me today… and this has been one of my guideposts since starting chiropractic school 10 years ago… not one of the deaths in my family that I have been alive for has been for natural causes. All of my relatives who have passed on, have died of PREVENTABLE chronic illness. I am not saying they didn’t live great lives nor am I saying they died in vain. I just know their life potential was thwarted in some form or fashion and had they known there was a different way, maybe some of the dreams they passed on could have been realized.
This month, our team is going to be donating our time and energy to a Wild Willow Farm and Education Center. We promise will be doing a lot more of this type of service in the future. If you would love to join us, please feel free to contact us for details!