Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot
On Fridays, I like to share experiences from my week—both with patients and in my personal life—that have left a meaningful impact. My hope is that these reflections offer you something of value, a bit of insight or encouragement that resonates with your own journey and inspires you in some way.
Something I’ve heard often. As a chiropractor, I’ve had many people at social functions ask me, “I’ve heard if you go to a chiropractor once, you’ll have to go forever. Is that true?” Though I always respond kindly and professionally, in my mind I am always thinking, “that is so dumb.” I’m never certain if they think after one visit their spine will turn to mush or if they believe we have a chiropractic Mafia that will shake them down and force them to get treatment or else. At any rate, it brings up a crucial concept that applies to much more than just chiropractic.
The healthiest, most beneficial, and worthwhile things in your life must be repeated. Brushing your teeth, treating your friends and family well, exercising, stretching, good nutrition, and many more are all great for you and should be repeated. Starting them does not mean you must do them forever but if the benefits appeal to you, you’ll likely want to. If not, no one is going to convince you otherwise but then it’s your responsibility to live with those outcomes. It always interests me that people rarely worry about bad choices turning into habits yet worry if they start pursuing healthier choices, they’ “have to do them forever.” Your decisions are your own, but it makes no sense to believe that repeating solid processes could ever lead to poor outcomes.
Something I heard and loved. While listening to podcast this week I heard the phrase, “Peace, if possible, but the truth at all costs.” What I derived from this was how crucial it is to apply this in our lives. In other words, it’s nice to make others happy and keep things calm/peaceful but never at the cost of not being genuine to your beliefs, morals, and/or principles.
My personal approach is generally to let small things slide. People have different viewpoints than I do so there is little benefit and a high energy expenditure to confront or battle them. However, I am unwilling to bend my faith, beliefs, or principles to make someone happy. Doing so would cause me to feel like a fraud knowing I ignored who I was to avoid confrontation and appease others. Instead, I feel it is necessary to outline what we are/are not willing to do or allow in our lives and then never bend on those areas. If that makes others unhappy, that is unfortunate but ultimately irrelevant. You do not need to be the loud confrontational type, but I recommend being someone that stays true to who you are regardless of circumstance or consequence.
Something I relate to. While watching football with my sons this weekend, we talked about two backup quarterbacks who were called into action this season after the starters—superstars and faces of their franchises—went down with injuries. Both backups stepped in seamlessly, relying on years of experience and mastery of the fundamentals to perform at a high level. My sons laughed at how much I raved about them, but the truth is, I’m at a place in life where I see myself in those players. There’s something deeply admirable about being ready, capable, and composed when opportunity or adversity arrives unexpectedly.
As we go through life, we all reach points where we’re no longer the fastest, strongest, or most naturally gifted. But experience has great power. It refines our fundamentals, builds calm in pressure-filled moments, and strengthens our resilience. Whether in business, chiropractic, coaching, or family life, I like to believe experience has given me the tools to perform well even when conditions aren’t ideal. I may not always “win,” but I’ll always be steady, prepared, and confident in my ability to respond. Like the backup quarterback, we can all aspire to be ready, skilled, dependable, and composed when our number is called.
An important concept. One thing I have learned in business, athletics, endurance events, coaching, etc. is that the quickest way to make something difficult is by expecting it to be easy. When you anticipate things will go smoothly it can throw you off if/when they don’t. For this reason, many people fall apart when something gets tough, takes more time than expected, or they make unanticipated mistakes. Thus, I believe a better approach should be followed.
I like to think of all the pitfalls I can face in life as my opponents – financial, physical, health-related, personal, etc. While I refuse to live in fear of any outcomes in these categories, I do pay them respect. Thus, I take steps to plan, control what I can, and remain flexible and positive in the event things go a bit astray. For example, I cannot tell you right now that I’ll never suffer from a serious injury or disease of some kind. However, I can do everything within my power in the meantime to make myself as strong and healthy as possible and then deal with any difficulties or situations as they arise. Few things in life ever go as easily as we expect. However, if we understand this and adopt a positive and proactive attitude, we can effectively deal with whatever comes our way.
Some quotes I Love.
“Every storm has two purposes; destroy what isn’t solid and reveal what is.”
“Sometimes, you’ve gotta show them what pain feels like to prepare them for glory”. – Dan Campbell