The Vision of the Far For Chiropractic

by Sid E. Williams, B.S., D.C.

Helen Keller, who made great achievements in spite of her multiple handicaps, said, "The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision."

Zen Master Yuanwu takes that a step further. He says, "If you haven’t attained a clear, true vision, this causes you to lapse into extremes, so that you lose contact with reality."

How true that is for our great profession! Those of our associates who have not dedicated themselves to a greater global vision for chiropractic have gone to extremes. And many of them seem to have lost contact with reality. To help rectify that unfortunate situation, I would like to share a dream – a vision – with you.

Over the past five decades, Innate has given some of us a Vision of the Far whose beauty is so great that, in special moments, it can almost bring tears to our eyes.

B.J. Palmer often talked about the "Big Idea" of chiropractic. The Big Idea tells you what chiropractic is: that it’s bigger than medicine, bigger than law, bigger than religion and bigger than anything we know. What the Vision of the Far tells us, however, is not what chiropractic is, but what chiropractic can do.

In this Vision of the Far, which many others over the years have told me they share, I see the world’s suffering masses made healthy, happy and productive again.

We see people being good citizens and good neighbors to one another, sharing their skills and resources so that all might live in relative comfort.

We see husbands and wives loving one another and joyfully participating in the lives of their children to guide them in the way they should go.

We see prisons emptying out their cells – and houses of worship filling up their pews – as people throughout the world rejoice in their new beginning and adopt a mindset of love toward one another.

We see the war to end all wars as a campaign to bring the basic necessities of life, along with health, education and purpose, to every village, every family and every individual on the face of the globe.

The Motivational Key Is Love

The key that can turn this Vision of the Far for chiropractic into a reality, however, is not, as you might think, chiropractic alone. Chiropractic is a vital tool for achieving this dream, but the motivational key that brings it all together is love. If you love chiropractic and you love humanity, and you and I and the 50,000 other chiropractors in the world put these two loves together, we can make this beautiful dream come true.

As you know, as one of those who share this dream, the nature of the Vision of the Far is such that it is not owned by just one person. It is like an ocean, a sunset or a moonlit night. A big Vision of the Far has its power because it is shared by a big number of big people with big ideas, big hearts, and big determination who can see the dream coming true.

Victor Hugo said, "There is nothing like a dream to create the future." And I say that a dream born of love and molded into a great vision with focus and persistency will produce a fantastic future of love, compassion and great joy such as has never been seen on this earth before.

I believe that thousands of chiropractors as well as good people with other skills and resources are sharing this vision. Do you have enough love in your heart and enough discipline in your character to be a significant part of the Vision of the Far? If so, then it’s time for us to move forward. Our own established resources at Life University, Life Foundation and Life International, when combined with the resources that you and others like you can provide, will enable the Vision of the Far to become a reality.

This Vision of the Far is a special entity that generates a special power. You can set simple goals and establish ordinary objectives and missions with your conscious mind. But, when you begin to pursue and share your Vision of the Far, and you truly love chiropractic and your fellow human beings, then your objectives and missions begin to be shaped, created and powered by your innate subconscious mind, and they take on a power of their own that guarantees their achievement.

As you know, your conscious mind is limited in its ability to see the full potential of chiropractic for the world’s people, or even for yourself; but when you approach your chosen profession with unprecedented love and enthusiasm, you begin to develop an inner vision that sets no limits for chiropractic or for your fellow human beings. You become inwardly anchored to your Vision of the Far, and your innate-governed mind that already is attuned to Infinite Intelligence begins to help you turn that dream into reality.

When practiced with a Lasting Purpose mindset, chiropractic has the unique capacity to greatly improve the human condition worldwide – from cradle to grave. If you could serve the chiropractic needs of every human being of every age and every social and economic condition on this planet – on every continent, in every country and in every village and hamlet – then miracle after miracle could continue. They would be the subject of all the TV talk shows and news magazine reports. Books would be written about it, and Oprah Winfrey would be interviewing the authors.

People would be healthier, happier and more productive. They would be kinder, more loving and more compassionate toward their neighbors. We would have less violence, less crime, fewer divorces, fewer wars, improved longevity and an overall higher quality of life for everyone.

No tyranny of any kind can long endure when opposed by the power of love.

No Limits For Chiropractic

Your conscious mind might struggle to see you being able to take care of just a few hundred patients per week in your office, but your visionary mind that is able to latch onto a Vision of the Far can look out into the future and see chiropractic services being provided in every nook and cranny of society — in all the schools at every level, in the military, in the police departments, in every hospital, at every athletic event, and in every industry and large office building. And the list goes on. Your innate-connected mind that is able to see the Vision of the Far, as well as the means for achieving it, sees no limits for chiropractic.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams," urged Henry David Thoreau. "Live the life you’ve imagined." I urge you – each of you – to follow that same advice. Join with us and go in the direction of the dream of dreams – the Vision of the Far for chiropractic – which is also the Vision of the Far for world peace and prosperity.

In the same way that dental hygiene has helped to eliminate dental cavities, so can neuro-spinal hygiene, practiced in the home, help to reduce the frequency, severity and endurance of spinal structural problems. What we need to do is teach people how to sit, how to sleep, how to lift and perform certain tasks, how to stretch and how to exercise.

By employing spinal hygiene, structural fixations, which usually become spinal subluxations, can be avoided. In the same way that a dentist teaches patients to floss and brush their teeth correctly, we can teach our patients how to make minor corrections on themselves and members of their own family. With this kind of practical, personal training, many subluxations can be prevented. At almost no cost, in just a matter of a few years, world health would be vastly improved. What a bargain! What a vision! What a possibility!

This Vision of the Far is not really something new. The main reason chiropractic has outstripped all of its earlier would-be competitors and continues to thrive is because of the unique inner vision that has long guided the majority of its practitioners. This great dream, this Vision of the Far, born in the hearts of these dedicated and focused practitioners, has proved to be greater than any one individual and more powerful than any obstacle that stood in its path.

Many of our compatriots today spend much of their time complaining about all the obstacles that chiropractic has to overcome. I like what one of my childhood heroes, Henry Ford, had to say on that subject. "Obstacles," he said, "are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

Stedman Graham brings the truth home to us with his observation that "People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives."

The greater vision that will redeem us all and save our profession in the bargain is seeing to it that all the world’s people are able to enjoy good health, rewarding prosperity and enduring peace. This vision can be achieved by ensuring:

1) that the chiropractic profession is recognized, accepted, licensed and protected in every nation in the world;

2) that enough skilled chiropractors are trained to meet the world’s needs; and

3) that this great and noble art and science is practiced with a mindset of Lasting Purpose love, providing care to all persons regardless of their location, their condition or their ability to pay.

Over these many decades, those dedicated to the Vision of the Far could see beyond the spinal column and beyond the simple relief of back pain as they looked into the future and visualized a healthier, happier and more compassionate human population. It was this unifying and inspiring vision that enabled stalwart men and women in chiropractic to press on and survive the hardships – even imprisonment – to defend and preserve chiropractic as a separate, distinct and legal health-care profession.

What a bold vision! What a daring venture! What a brave and noble experiment! In a world in which medical theories were virtually unchallenged and family physicians were second only to God in the reverence they received from their patients, here comes D.D. Palmer, who, after adjusting one man and restoring his hearing, established a totally new idea about the human body. He dared to suggest a radically different cause of dysfunction, and he proposed a revolutionary new drug-free, surgery-free way to restore the body to full functioning and then maintain that healthy state of being.

"There are only two ways to live your life," said Albert Einstein. "One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." To see the big picture for chiropractic and to embrace the Vision of the Far, you have to believe in miracles.

Those who possess and nurture this Vision of the Far for chiropractic and for humanity have no time for complaining. They have more enjoyable and profitable work than they can do. They also know that we are in dire need right now of over a million well-trained, enthusiastic, licensed practitioners just to take care of the basic needs of the billions of suffering people throughout the world. They know that if we worked as hard as we could for the next hundred years, we could not meet the world’s ever-growing needs. As our planet becomes increasingly hostile with man-made toxins and artificial, stressful environments, the challenge to chiropractic continues to increase. It is a job we can never finish, but we must never give up trying. Such is the nature of the Vision of the Far.

No matter how tired I become, I realize I can never give up pursuing this Vision of the Far. John Barrymore once said, "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." By that definition, I will never grow old. I invite you to also taste of this fountain of youth. Dedicate your life to this Vision of the Far. Dream this dream with us. Be forever young.

To me, the cries of the suffering masses are as real to my ear as is the chatter and laughter of my own robustly healthy grandchildren, and the contrast pushes me ever onward in pursuit of a better world. The Vision of the Far for chiropractic and for all of humanity is as clear as the sunrise on a bright summer day. The pleas from those in need tug at my heart and stir me to action from the time I wake up until I am finally able to close my eyes in sleep at night. Even then, problems and their solutions often come to me in dreams. Innate and Universal Intelligence never sleep. They are tireless. With a good open channel to both, your innate mind also is tireless.

Those of us who share the Vision of the Far are not worried about the future. We don’t have to spend the day wringing our hands and wondering what awaits us in the days ahead. We believe the future of chiropractic is limited only by the magnitude of our collective vision, which, in turn, has the ability to feed our noble profession with a constant flow of ideas and inspiration, and gives us the courage to maintain our determination and resolve.

Making A Commitment

The Vision of the Far for chiropractic demands that our profession become as familiar and acceptable to the general public as are medicine and dentistry today. The terms and procedures of chiropractic ought to be as much a part of the average vocabulary as is the medical jargon that is now an accepted part of our language. Everybody talks about gargling for a sore throat, putting a Band-Aid on a cut finger, taking an antacid tablet for indigestion and getting a filling put in a cavity. It’s time everyone also knew that subluxations can cause a huge array of physical, mental and spiritual dysfunctions, and that a professional chiropractic adjustment can set it right and enable the wonderful human body to heal itself and regain its full, vibrant functioning.

In this invigorating Vision of the Far for chiropractic, which has been nourished and treasured and promoted for these many years, we see the day when people would no more think of leaving their home without attending to their spinal hygiene than they would consider leaving without attending to their personal hygiene and dental hygiene. Just as they would take a bath, wash and comb their hair, floss and brush their teeth, and so forth, with a little spinal hygiene, which might include stretching and gentle pressure by themselves or a gentle family member, they would also work out the minor disturbances of the spine that often occur overnight.

I see the day when chiropractors not only take care of the severe and chronic spinal abnormalities which can contribute to a host of human dysfunctions and actually encourage the generation of hate, depression and unhappiness, but they will also teach their patients how to live their lives in such a manner that their spine is not forced into subluxation by overwork, fatigue, dehydration, lack of discipline, poor ergonomics or mental or physical stress.

This is the Vision of the Far for chiropractic that should drive us every day. It is a noble and demanding vision. Only men and women who are brave of heart and stern of character can maintain it.

It goes without saying, of course, that committing to the Vision of the Far behaviorally does not preclude the necessity of using good business sense in your own practice. Faith alone will not pay the rent. It might seem that you are making a great sacrifice when you first set out to be a part of the Vision of the Far, but, in the long run, you always gain much more than you give – not just in material goods, but also in personal fulfillment, peace of mind and a true feeling of self-worth.

As a practical practitioner, you have to keep check on your goals, objectives and missions. You have to make sure that your "business hand" is tight, and your financial plan is sound. That is just common sense. What is uncommon sense, however, is the knowledge that you must also make sure that your "visionary hand" always dominates the natural tendency to get greedy. You should never forget the Vision of the Far. The patients and their welfare must always come first in your plans and mental perspective.

Once you commit to the Vision of the Far for chiropractic and humanity, maintaining it must be your first priority. It is your torch in the dark tunnels of temptation. It is your lighthouse to steer you away from the rocks of greed, jealousy and selfishness. With the love, persistency and focus inspired by your dream, all your business enterprises will naturally flourish. And the joy you feel in your heart will give you a long, productive life.

"An Idea Whose Time Has Come"
Victor Hugo, the premier writer of the 19th century, once said, "There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come." The Vision of the Far that chiropractic can generate to produce a healthy, happy world at peace is an idea whose time has come. This is the only true health, because it embraces the body, the mind and the spirit.

Won’t you join with us and march bravely, steadfastly and confidently into a better world?

Oliver Wendell Holmes once warned, "Beware how you take away hope from any human being." A person without hope can be mean and destructive. With hope, the candle of love is lighted. And one candle lighted is used to light another, and another, and another, and another.

In reality, that is the gift of the Vision of the Far for all humanity: With the hope provided by chiropractic, we light the candle of love and total health. Could there be a greater gift?

Albert Einstein gives us this brilliant insight: "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself." People living only for themselves, who have the single goal to get as rich as possible, are not really living. They are just existing.

With your help, we will take hope to the world. Participate with us as your heart dictates. With an annual gift of up to $1,000, you will be given a certificate designating you as a Life International Good Samaritan. A gift of $1,000 to $4,999 entitles you to a plaque designating you as a Servant of Humanity. A gift of $5,000 to $24,999 gets you the title of Guardian Angel engraved on a plaque and embroidered on a special green jacket. And any gift of $25,000 or more entitles you to the supreme title of Angel of Mercy engraved on a special plaque and embroidered on a unique silver silk jacket.

Your participation also will earn you the privilege of participating in a number of prestigious events, special seating and an opportunity to visit some of the countries where our great humanitarian work is being done.

Come, call or write today and tell us how you want to help give the world hope.

If not this, what?

If not us, who?

If not now, when?

[For more information on Life International’s program to "take hope to the world," call Dr. Rodney Handly at (770) 426-2975; or E-mail rhandly@life.edu.]