I had four patients utter the same words to me this week:
“Deadlifting is hard.”
Another asked a solid question:
“Why is it so hard NOT to slouch?”
Slouching is easy. You’re falling with gravity into the fetal position. You’ll go there if you don’t fight it.
Deadlifting is hard. It takes strong and stable shoulders, hips, torso and back to hold the body upright.
Your 9 months before birth were in the fetal position. Once you entered the world, you spent nearly every waking moment fighting to earn some extra curves.
You wanted to hold your head up.
You reversed yourself out of the fetal position to hold up your head.
You wanted to crawl and walk.
You rocked your hips over, and over, and over to earn your low back curve.
You could not be kept in the fetal position any longer. You earned those extra curves.
So, what happened?
Life happened.
As your priorities changed from movement, you let yourself fall comfortably back into the fetal position.
But make no mistake: you once spent the first year of your life earning and maintaining those curves, so that you could walk.
So, walk. You earned it.
Hold your head up. You earned it.
Sit your hips back and maintain your lumbar curve. You earned it.
Don’t let that first year of constant work be for nothing.

I'm generally the last person to post sappy, long posts but today I am just feeling the inspiration of someone that influenced my life in my childhood that I don't think realizes how much they have changed or moved me through tough years and challenges.
Today I want to give a shoutout to Glenn Owens. When I was young I grew up in a Fundamental Baptist family. We were the first generation in our family to follow this religion. To this day, I do not consider myself to follow this religion anymore but follow the morals of life from it. Every Wednesday night we had a church program called AWANA, this program started about 6pm and went till 8.
In the short story, Glenn was my 4th grade AWANA counselor, where every Wednesday from about 6:30-7pm he was helping 5 kids in my class memorize Bible verses (which gave us points to earn prizes and such). It was common for my previous and future teachers to just push the memorization aspect and get those points, which is not a good system for teaching. But that is how it was.
What was different about Glenn, is I was struggling hard on memorizing these verses and getting emotionally frustrated at my competitive classmates, feeling I could never do as good as them. Glenn sat me down every Wednesday for several weeks and worked with me and TAUGHT me what each verses meaning. He didn't have a text book referencing any of these verses, he authentically taught me what they were about and how I could apply them to my life.
I did not entirely know as to why this verse stuck with me from those few weeks, but 1 Thessalonians 5:11 was one of them. "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do". This verse told me to treat others the way you want to be treated. The context of what it was written might not be so direct but to me, it was a life changer. Every time I struggled with anger and hate and every day to day life (especially working retail), it helped me keep a level head and gave me perspective of others.
From that single verse and Glenn, I have learned that one single moment in time, especially in the eyes of children and young adults, what you say and do can change their lives for good or bad. All I remember is going back to Glenn, days, weeks, and even a few years later quoting that verse and thanking him for being the best teacher I ever had.
Thank you Glenn for every bit of inspiration you gave me.
Also, thank you to Barton Ink for the amazing ink! If anyone from the area needs quality work done and inspiring and good people to give you memories for life, make the drive to West Bend. Those people are family once you walk through those doors.

Joshua McNeil is the owner and lead fabricator at McKydex (Milwaukee Custom Kydex). Feel free to check out his website and send him a message if you liked his heartfelt writing. 

When the car accident happened I lost so much and the amount of grieving was more than I expected. Actually, I didn't realize I would have to go through a grieving process. But now it is three years since the accident and I made a decision that was difficult. I decided to change my logo and the purpose of my practice. 

It may sound like nothing big but my logo was the last bit of my dream to have a clinic and provide holistic rehab. I worked years building a brand and reputation just to lose it all. 

While it was hard to look at that logo, give it to a graphic designer and trust they would honor it and give it a gentle push into a new direction. But when he sent it back, I felt the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders. I had finally felt as if I could breathe. 

You see, that logo, that small piece of history, was a reminder of what I perceived as a failure. Looking at it brought back so many memories and lost dreams. The new logo...the new logo...it makes me smile. I have optimism and feel re-energized!

It made me think...how often do we hold onto things from our past and spend time (waste time) wondering 'what if' or lamenting at what was? How often do we allow the past to bog down our future or keeps us from enjoying the present? 

What I learned: Grieve and move on...holding onto the past just bogs you down...focus on the present...look to the future. 

After a satisfying morning treating patients, I went to retail store to pick up a few things.
I watched as a lady griped about the delay in the checkout line, as she looked to the other customers for approval. I couldn’t offer mine.
After telling the employees how awful they were, she stated, “I’ll be happy when I can pay for my stuff, so I can leave.”
The employee smiled and said, “We will be too.”
You know where this is going.
She demanded the manager’s card, the corporate card – every card available, and some not available.
As I walked to another line, a polite employee and I had conversation. I wondered how the lady and I could have such different customer service experiences, within seconds of each other.
Are the laws of attraction that strong? Maybe.
Or, maybe it’s much easier to be kind to those that are kind back.
I’m not going to tell you to go read The Secret. But I will tell you that you are the one in control of how you react – always.
So, maybe read Biology of Belief, instead.
Line lady had a subpar experience, but mine was excellent. She controlled her reactions, as did I. I’ve been in her shoes – and it only made ME feel miserable.
Stop blaming others around you, because you are the one reacting to what occurs in your atmosphere.
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