Wherever your bar is, chiropractic will raise it. Your personal bar, personal best or level of functioning is established by your knowledge, experience and attitude. However, it is overwhelmingly determined by your values. Each of us defines our personal bar by the way we evaluate our performance. Do you see the word “value” in evaluate? A runner has his or her best running times. A school teacher has classroom standards that produce scholars. An observant gardener carefully prunes prize-winning roses. Your personal bar influences your actions and achievements. As you expand your awareness, you raise your personal bar so you are constantly striving to be better.

Your state of health is valuable. It is the foundation of the hopes and dreams you make real. At times health is only valued when a crisis interferes with daily life. It is a habitual behavior to place one's health on the back burner, forging through stressful events completely preoccupied. The workaholic is one example. Someone who says, “Yes,” to every request even at the brink of exhaustion tends to ignore a weakened immune system. The body, in its wisdom, puts up with stress and neglect as long as it possibly can. Health seems to be on auto pilot and easily taken for granted.

Prevention is the new value system in order to avoid illness. Practicing prevention is now raising the bar. At one time this proactive approach was only 3 percent of America's health care budget. There is now an effort to raise the bar by utilizing public health education to deliver this urgent message.

For those who are especially interested in raising the bar, enter chiropractic. Because stress cannot be totally controlled, the best defense is chiropractic's fine tuning of the nervous system. There is no healing without normal brain function, metabolism and energy. The nervous system delivers healing. Chiropractic concentrates on spinal structures that obstruct the nervous system and oppose healing. Chiropractic is a welcomed partner for those who strive to exceed their current level of performance.

Sadly, there are folks who still “save” chiropractic for the times their lives are interrupted with injury, pain and immobility. This is not the raised awareness of prevention. However, any opportunity to improve the nervous system and enhance healing deserves the effort. Even if a small change is noticed, it demonstrates the potential that can be achieved with a commitment to recover and then advance.

A “newbie” to chiropractic has a different value system than others who have been involved in its care longer. It takes time to understand the science and philosophy of chiropractic. It may seem daunting, but learning how the body works takes away a lot of apprehension. Regaining health also leads to a new sense of self worth, which is a huge factor in longevity.

I am passionately committed to helping people realize their own value as productive citizens. Without health this is elusive. Chiropractic builds a better, smarter body - a natural upgrade. The bar is constantly raised.

Lisa Ann Homic, M.Ed. D.C., may be contacted at www.DrHomic.com