Pygmies and the horizon

This story was taken from the book below:

“About 50 years ago a Pygmy named Kenge took his first trip out of the dense, tropical forests of Africa and into the open plains in the company of an anthropologist. Buffalo appeared in the distance-small black specks against a bleached sky- and the Pygmy surveyed them curiously. Finally, he turned to the anthropologist and asked what kind of insects they were. “When I told Kenge that these insects were indeed large buffalo, he roared with laughter and told me not to tell such stupid lies.”

The Pygmy had no concept of a distant horizon, he lived his life in a dense tropical forest. His perception drove his reality.

Sometimes we need to borrow others’ vision in order to see what is possible. Sometimes we don’t have a concept of a distant horizon 🙂

Borrow a BIG vision for your future today!

Happy Thirsday

-Dr Lindeman

Affirm!

I believe that affirmations (especially in the morning) are powerful.

Our subconscious minds are constantly telling us things throughout the day anyway.

Our “little voices” tell us that we aren’t doing a good enough job, we aren’t good enough, we are lacking compared to “that man” or “that woman.”

If we wrote down all the negative self talk thay pops up throughout the day, we may be astonished.

So to combat…AFFIRM the positives. Create the habit of noticing how friggin awesome we are, how amazing life is, and how we are going to continue growing both (our awesomeness and the worlds amazing ness) by coaching ourselves a bit more.

You are amazing!

Tell yourself 😉

Happy Monday!

-Dr Lindeman

Peace

This past weekend , my family and I had a wonderful trip to Folly Beach, South Carolina.

We breathed the ocean air in deep and enjoyed connection with each other.

In the meantime, mayhem was erupting (with cause).

I know I am privileged. I know my family is too. I do work hard, and we try to teach our children about viewing the world through others’ lenses as well. And I cannot imagine the amount of pain, and fear that a large portion of our population are feeling (and have been feeling for decades).

I am also afraid of the extremism that exists today. White, black, left, right, anti-(fill in the blank), pro-(fill in the blank), stay home bc of covid, re-open, etc. The divisions are real and very polarizing.

I believe the answers lie in empathy. We can have our own viewpoints but we should try to understand others as well. We can “stand our ground” but we also must try to see the other territory. If we can promote love, compassion and try for some understanding, the world will be more peaceful.

So try to do that a bit today. Have some conversations with others who don’t feel the way you do. Try to see their side. I can almost guarantee, they will have some valid points, just as much as I can guarantee you will as well.

Spread some love today. Promote peace.

Happy Tuesday

-Dr Lindeman

Chasing your shadow

Chasing success is a lot like chasing your own shadow.

When you make big goals for yourself, you can see them in front of you, so you work/walk toward that goal. And over tune, the shadow gets smaller as you get closer and closer to your goal. When you reach it, that feels amazing!

You can walk around a bit taller with the shadow going out behind you now.

But we cannot keep that shadow behind us forever. We need to dream bigger and create new goals, new shadows to walk toward.

Rinse. Repeat.

Our 3 year old standard poodle is amazing at this. In fact we have dubbed her “The Shadow Hunter” because she runs after shadows with abandon. She doesn’t chase birds or squirrels, but dives after their shadows. She never “catches” her goal, but the act of trying gets her tail a waggin’!

The key to this is knowing the journey is what is the most important. If we only look at the big goals, the shadows we are chasing we will miss the beauty of the voyage.

Have big dreams.

Chase them.

But look up and love the journey!

Happy Tuesday!

-Dr Lindeman

It’s about you!

Do you think the #1 pole vaulter in the world even knows who the #1 juggler in the world is?

Does the highest paid cricket player in the world have any idea how much the highest paid toothpaste ad man makes?

Does the world’s most renowned microbiologist have an inkling of who the world’s most renowned sous-chef is?

The answer to all of these questions (I’m 99.9% sure, can’t be 100% because the cricket player and toothpaste guy could be neighbors, you never know) is NO WAY!

The point is, if we scratch and claw to become the best in order to compare ourselves to others, the amount of people we can even compare ourselves to is minuscule when we think of the world as a whole.

We should all strive to be the best we can be at whatever we choose to do (and that doesn’t have to mean a job, or a sport, we can be the best dad/husband/wife/son/friend that WE can be).

But we should NEVER try to be the best in comparison to anyone else.

Because the fact of the matter is, we can never be the best anything besides our best selves!

Happy Tuesday!

At being you!

-Dr Lindeman

Drive your own car, Captain!

When you are driving down the highway, do you pull up next to the person driving in the next lane and try to figure out how they are driving?

Where are their hands positioned?

Are their windows down?

What temperature do they keep their air conditioning at?

What sort of music are they listening to?

Of course not!

You need to worry about how you drove your own vehicle.

The point is, no one can drive/walk/live your life except you! So why do we compare ourselves to others?

We should definitely learn from other’s mistakes and successes, sure, but ultimately we need to be at the helm of our own lives.

Get driving, because only YOU can take YOU to where YOU want to go!

Happy driving (might I suggest jamming to this song by The Surfaces? Just a suggestion, feel free to skip it, Captain 👨‍✈️)

Have a glorious Wednesday!

-Dr Lindeman

Your smile changes the world

Especially fitting during these times.

Your smile can change the world! It can light up someone’s day, it can push away the dark.

Just make sure you are using that gift and not letting it go dormant.

Complacency kills.

We need to arm ourselves with more positivity and more light in order to push back the dark.

So 😀😁😆😂🤣🙂😍 all you can today 🙂

Great words from Tony Robbins

So #true!

The human race has survived/thrived through an innumerable amount of catastrophes, turmoils, and tragedies.

But the simple fact that we are here proves that we shall always overcome.

Love thy neighbor (from afar), use this time to grow your mind, read, write, sing, dance. Connect with your families. Discover new things.

This too shall pass and we will all be stronger.

With love,

Joel Lindeman DC

Never made a mistake?

This was sent to my by a good friend this morning (thanks Hartman). His dad took a picture of it on his travels.

And Thanks to Albert for the reminder of this simple truth.

In order to grow, we have to fail, we have to make mistakes.

The key to growth is the fall and the DECISION to get back up and keep going.

March on my friends!

-Dr Lindeman