Dear Doctor:
Thank you for all the positive feedback on last week’s column about Jackie Robinson. This week, I write about another “Number 42” – former Arizona State standout Pat Tillman, who later wore Number 40 for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League.
Tillman was undersized – at five-eleven, two hundred pounds, he wasn’t really big enough to play defense for a professional football team. But no one could convince him of that – he brought so much passion and intensity to the game, nothing could keep him from stardom.
Until 9/11. Something awakened inside of him, a burning desire to stand up for what he believed in, and a compelling drive to demonstrate his feelings in a tangible way. After a stellar beginning to his NFL career, he passed on millions of dollars and enormous fame to enlist in the Army Rangers for eighteen thousand bucks a year, doing his part to make the world a safer and better place.
What a statement about priorities and values! He knew without a doubt what was right for him, and boldly proclaimed it with his actions. You would think such congruency and bravery would lead to a happy ending, as it does in many movies – but not this time.
Sergeant Pat Tillman was killed in a firefight in Afghanistan last Thursday. He was twenty-seven.
I won’t take this time to offer my perspectives on the futility of violence, on the agonies and insanities of war – rather, I’d prefer to concentrate on the character of a man who makes such decisions in times of adversity. The integrity, the selflessness, the certainty and leadership he exemplified are a model of excellence that we can all learn from, and if we do, then he will not have died in vain.
A person of conviction is willing to do the things others may not be willing to do, no matter what the cost or the discomfort. If you believe in your work as a chiropractor, if you comprehend the scourge of subluxation, the significance of the adjustment, and the impact you can have on those people you serve, then please, find a way to be strong enough to spread the word. Not only will it build your practice, it will improve the quality of life for untold thousands who will feel the effects of your courage. No one is asking you to risk your life for your work as a chiropractor – I’m simply saying that the path blazed by those who came before us is honored by our relentless pursuit of a healthy and well society, which can never be attained through the present health care delivery system. We must step up, point out the blatant inconsistencies and dangers of the allopathic approach, and muscle our way into the health mainstream, whatever it takes. It is clear to me, and I hope to you as well, that anything less than an all-out effort to position chiropractic care at the forefront of the wellness revolution is unacceptable, and each of us has to contribute if our culture is to evolve and advance.
Pat Tillman loved freedom, and he understood his responsibility to do what he could to preserve and maintain it. He put his life on the line to defend it, and paid the ultimate price, leaving behind a grieving but proud family and a multitude of adoring fans who appreciated him, not only for his exploits on the field of play, but for the spirit he brought to the field of battle. We can all use the lesson of a life, too short but well-lived, when we consider exactly how much we’re prepared to put on the table for what we know is right. For the sake of our future, please give it everything you’ve got.
Dennis Perman DC, for The Masters Circle
PS The Chicago seminar rocked – you can catch the same show in LA in May or NJ in June. To register, please call 1-800-451-4514 or visit our website at themasterscircle.com.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
