What major league pitcher in 1916 won 23 games while only losing 12? He had an American league leading earned run average of only 1.75 and led the league in shutouts (9). During the second game of the World Series that year he pitched 14 innings of Game 2, giving up only one run and six hits. With a season like that you would expect that this pitcher would be one of the great pitchers in the history of baseball. If you had to guess, you might say it was Walter Johnson, Christey Mattheson, Cy Young or Grover Cleveland Alexander. Whomever it was, you would conclude that he must have had a great pitching career. Yet while his career lasted 19 years, despite those 23 wins in 1916(and 24 wins in 1917), he only won 94 games. The reason his total was so low was that from 1920 to 1933 he only pitched in five games (winning them all). Had he pitched more, he may have been one of the all-time greats. But in 1920 the New York Yankees changed Babe Ruth’s position from pitcher to outfielder. One thing is certain, playing in thirty or forty games a year as a pitcher, Babe Ruth would not have become associated with hitting homeruns. He would never have reached his potential as a hitter. He had to focus on hitting rather than pitching, to be all that he could in the game. What about other athletes, such as Aaron Caldwell? A college friend who gave up his college basketball career that was destined to be above average, in order to recognize his potential as a college football player and developed into one of the greatest pass catchers in school’s history..
How many other people, for one reason or another, never recognize their potential? Not necessarily as a baseball or football player but in other areas of life. How many potential concert pianists never sit down at a piano? How many great statesmen never enter politics? We could speculate forever about lost opportunities. But the one I would like to address is the person who does not recognize his or her potential because of a physical problem. Wilma Rudolph, who passed away sometime ago, was an Olympic track champion. But she had to overcome a physical problem, polio, as a child. She had to recognize her potential despite her childhood disease and then have the wherewithal to pursue that goal. It is not enough to recognize it, you also have to realize it. There are so many factors in both of these areas, factors such as inspiration, willpower, desire, motivation, and natural ability. There are many gifted people who recognize their potential but because of lack of motivation, desire, or willpower, they never realize their potential.
Chiropractic plays a unique role in this entire concept. The chiropractic adjustment removes interference in the nervous system and allows the entire body to work better. The individual’s mental processes work better, allowing greater recognition of potential. The individual’s physical processes work better, energy level is improved, coordination is better and stamina is increased. Everything works better with a good nerve supply. All of us will not be great athletes or concert pianists. But we all have the potential to be great at something. Whether it is a business executive, an employee, a house painter or a portrait painter, a college professor or a college student, a housewife or an auto mechanic. Whatever your role in life is, be excellent at it. Whatever else it takes, it starts with a properly functioning nervous system, free of vertebral subluxations. Chiropractic doesn’t have all the answers but it has something to offer everyone. You must recognize chiropractic’s potential for you before you can reach your potential for yourself.
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