Millimeters Matter
I have a history of back/hip/leg issues. Been a problem for years. I lived with it for a long time, until one day in 2014 my wife and I were at a show of some kind…It wasn’t the boat and travel show, but it was something like that. Big venue, lots of walking. I was literally stopping every few hundred feet to squat, stretch, grab a chair to sit in…it was pretty pathetic.
My wife looked at me and said, “You’re too young a man to be having these types of issues.” For some reason, that statement went straight to my core. She was absolutely right. Why was I putting up with this?
The next day, I made an appointment with a chiropractor. Several visits later…not much relief. Then one day, walking out of yet another appointment, I thought to myself, “He moved something in there.” It felt different. I felt different. It wasn’t fixed, but it was better.
A couple of months later, I decided to take up yoga. One of the best decisions of my adult life. Fast forward five years, that back problem is long gone. It took about three years to completely get rid of it. Chiropractor, yoga, stretching and some strength training. Turns out that my hips were improperly aligned. This caused a weakness on my left side. Over time, my leg and hip muscles slowly weakened, and my body was literally sagging to the left. It wasn’t visible or even noticeable. We’re talking millimeters. But millimeters matter. The chiropractic and other work I did on those inner muscles strengthened my left side and allowed me to naturally realign. Problem solved. Pain gone.
My back problem is an analogy for so many things in life. You’re a few minutes late…your performance is slightly short of expectation (or excellence) …you’re not quite fully present for important conversations with important people. Then, all of a sudden, you can’t enjoy something important. Like a promotion. Or a meeting. Or a walk with your wife.
Here’s the good news. You can fix it. But you have to believe that millimeters matter.
