Growing up I was the son of a teacher, I thought that I always wanted to be a math or science teacher.  As soon as the idea came out of my mouth I can remember I mom saying, “no you don’t.” Then I thought I wanted to be a medical doctor, through high school and about a semester into undergrad, that was the thought process.  I had a sit down conversation with a classmate at the time and we talked about what we wanted in life. It was at that time, that I started to think about other fields that would allow me to work/help people yet still have a standard and quality of life that I could be proud of and practice for years to come.

That is when I went a shadowed a chiropractor and came to the conclusion that this was for me, I would be able to run my own business, help numerous people on a daily basis and not be married to a cell phone to be on call with a clinic or hospital.

Every once in a while I get the random thought in my head, “why didn’t I try to go to medical school or law school, I think I would really like those professions?” Then my wife and family are right there to bring me back down to reality, “you have no idea how good you have it and you don’t have to answer to anyone but yourself. It’s truly the best of both worlds.”

I have a new found respect for people that own their own business.  I never really realized how much of a risk you need to take in order to make everything portray that a smooth operation is happening.  When I started out, I did everything myself and it was okay, I managed but it can be very stressful to make sure everything is done in a timely manner. When we bought the practice in Minden, I had always come from the school of thought that buying a practice did not make much sense, but my mind was changed when Dr. Wakefield came calling, when the numbers make sense, they make sense.  Year after year of solid numbers don’t lie.

Do I have regrets in my life, sure, everyone does but the last couple of weeks Kristina and I have been reflecting on how far we have come in a short amount of time. Big decisions require diligence and caution but at a young age we have made some decisions that we genuinely do not regret in the least.

The past couple of weeks have been busy around the office and I have to tell myself to embrace it, keep letting it grow and enjoy the journey. When you analyze the numbers from when we first started to where we are now it is night and day and I hope in a couple of years that the numbers today will be night and day.

So, do I have regrets in my life, sure but not many.  I have absolutely no qualms about becoming a chiropractor.  Yes, we may be an outcast in the healthcare fields but I’m okay with that because I can see first-hand how many people come in and out of the office on a daily basis and that we are making an impact on their lives.  We may not be the final answer for some people but we can be a good first step for those that we cannot ultimately help to the fullest.

I’ll end in saying if you would have asked me when I was 16 years old that I would be a chiropractor living in central Nebraska with a beautiful bride, nice home and an ornery 18 month old, I would have told you that you are crazy.  But sometimes the dream that you have when you’re younger are not necessarily the dreams that make you happiest.