The Pain Doctor

Paul Chek, a well known name in the fitness industry, describes the Pain Doctor as a teacher that manifests in forms of pain in the human body.

Well, the Pain Doctor has paid me a visit recently and it hasn’t been fun. It began with an upward swing of new possessions breaking. After the chain on my new beach cruiser broke, I walked my bike home for about 20 minutes thinking “What’s the lesson here?”...

The Lesson?

The lesson was too slow down. You see oftentimes “things” happen in our life for apparently “no reason” at all. We go on about our lives not really paying attention to what could be considered “a sign”.  If you’re anything like me; it would take losing a pair of sandals you wear every single day (even in the rain) and breaking 3 new possessions in a 4 day span to get your attention. 

Well, I thought I understood on that “bike walk” home that the lesson here was to slow down. I consciously started moving more intentionally throughout my days and felt like I was slowing down. However, what I didn’t realize was that I was moving extremely fast as it relates to business. You see, I’ve slowed down since May in terms of business. I intentionally decided to take time off from work and to not build anything new. Which I did… I mean I did slow down and I didn’t build anything new.

That is until the "Wizard Behind the Curtain”. I’ve been thinking about a new business offering for months and all the signs came flooding in around the end of October / early November to move on this new program now known as the “Wizard Behind the Curtain”. The problem in hindsight is that I was moving too fast on it. I moved so fast that the Pain Doctor literally put me in bed…

Pain Doctor Revisits

I’m pretty used to having issues with my back. Generally speaking, about once or twice a year my back will go out and I’ll be walking like a 90 year old man… rather crawling and bracing for each movement.

This time was different though. Something just felt different about it. I’ve reflected on the synchronistic timing of my new possessions breaking to the pain in my back with the lesson of slowing down.

These past 2 and a half weeks have been rough. Usually, I’d be healed in about 2 weeks. I’ve had a couple days of hope where it seemed like I was getting better than my pain would come back in.

Well… just a few days ago I was eating some penne pasta from DoorDash and I forgot the lesson of slowing down all together. I was chewing like I hadn’t eaten for a week and before you know it I heard a noise worse than nails on a chalkboard and felt something that I was too afraid to believe just happened. I looked down and I searched because I knew what had happened. I lost my front tooth. At the age of 32 no one wants to “lose a tooth”. Not only did I lose ¾ of a tooth but it was my front tooth.

I looked in the mirror and I looked like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb & Dumber,

Pain Doctor, you now have my complete attention…

An Invitation

This holiday season, I’d like to invite you to slow down with me. Think about it… every other year of your life has been stressful around the holidays. Sure, there’s a ton of stress and tension this year but for different reasons. We have been given an opportunity to slow down in general during this time of COVID-19. But, now as it relates to the holidays; I invite you to just take it a tad bit easier than in the past.

Where in your life can you truly practice gratitude?

Are you actually able to sit in the silence?

If so, what do you hear? What comes to you?

If not, why not?

Wishing you all a meaningful and purposeful close to 2020,

Sam