the big picture

“You have to know one big thing and stick with it.”   – Irving Kristol

“Get the big idea and all else follows.”    – Dr. BJ Palmer

We have all heard the old expression about missing the forest for the trees.  In our pedal-to-the-metal lifestyles, we get so caught up with what’s directly in front of our faces that we sometimes miss the “Big Picture”.  Sickness and disease work like that.  It is sometimes difficult to grasp the bigger idea, when you are suffering, in pain, and struggling to make it through a day.  all of this begs the question of what I mean when I talk about the a “bigger idea“.

One of the common denominators found in the thought process of early pioneers in the natural health field is that they believed in Common Causes and Common Cures of diseases.  You had BJ PALMER in Chiropractic (“Get the big idea and all else follows“) who taught that SUBLUXATION was the cause of all sickness and ill health.  There was the father of Osteopathy, ANDREW TAYLOR STILL, who believed that FASCIA held the solution to all health problems (HERE is a modern example of his work).  And what about early Dentists and MD’s like WESTON PRICE, FRANCIS POTTENGER, or ROYAL LEE?  These men had good reason to believe that all disease was directly related to diets not based on WHOLE FOOD principles.  I would hate to leave out one of my heroes, DR. JACK LaLANE (that’s right, Jack was a Chiropractor).  We could have written a book talking about these sorts of healers and their ideas about health.  The truth is, I think that on some level, they were probably all correct.  Diet, exercise, and the relationship between the structure and function of the body are all of critical importance to good health.

When I look at the people on this list, I see a pattern.  As we get closer to our modern age, it seems that in most cases there is an increasing emphasis on nutrition.  Why would this be?  Think about it for a moment.  Go back a century ago, and what were people eating?  Everyone was living out of their garden.  They were eating grains that were neither processed, hybridized, nor genetically modified.  They were drinking milk that had not been pasteurized, homogenized, nor loaded down with hormones or antibiotics.  The same thing could be said for their meat.   Candy and sweets were once-and-a-while treats reserved for special days.  Now it seems that every day is special —- really special if you stop and take a look at what most people are eating.

It’s nothing for people to drink 6-12 SODAS a day.  Unless you go out of your way to avoid it, the animal products we consume (particularly meat and milk) have so many hormones, an epidemic known as “ESTROGEN DOMINANCE” is sweeping the country by waves.   Animals are given ANTIBIOTICS just to make them fatter (HERE).  And most younger kids won’t eat anything that isn’t heavily SUGARED and processed because their parents have forgotten who the boss is in the parent / child relationship.  As for vegetables, the government has gotten sneaky about the way they list foods when it comes to school lunches (pizza counts as two servings of vegetables — HERE) because research has shown that large numbers of children get zero servings of vegetables unless its in the form of pizza or fries and ketchup (each counts as a serving).   And this does not even begin to touch the issue of how active previous generations were when compared to ours. 

Here we are in the back half of 2014.  Most of you who made New Years Resolutions back in January, deep-sixed them months ago — just like you do every year.  Unfortunately, it does not really matter for many of you because you are still caught up in that whole “EQUATING-YOUR-HEALTH-WITH-YOUR-WEIGHT” thing.  The truth is, if you do not get the Big Idea, you will likely live out a large chunk of your life as a commodity — a tool used by the medical industry and drug companies for making money — someone’s life-long revenue stream.  Think I’m being too harsh?  Try THIS STUDY on for size.

If you want to get the Big Idea, you’ll have to start thinking differently than you’ve been trained to think.  For instance, if you are one of the millions of Americans with CHRONIC SINUS PROBLEMS, you’ll have to start asking why, instead of simply taking round after round after round of Antibiotics.  If you never get to the root of the issue, the issue will never resolve.  The same could be said with almost every single chronic health problem facing our nation today.  The great thing is, if you are really interested in getting down to business, HERE are some links to read.  Once you begin to realize that you are not totally controlled by your GENETIC MAKEUP, you can begin to take charge of your health.  Simply read the information, formulate a plan, and like Kristol said at the top of the page, stick to it.   Give it some time, and for most of you it will turn your life, mood, energy levels, and libido completely around.