Membership in a Recession
by Dr. David Flatt, DABCO
Everyone needs a friend who is not afraid to set them straight. I was lucky
enough to find two such friends back in chiropractic college. The kind of friend
who can listen to your whining and give you a kick in the pants while offering
encouragement and insight. Over the years, I have come to seek their counsel
countless times and every once in a while we get to trade roles. We take pride
in "watching each other's backs."
Last fall, amid the presidential debates, Wall Street fiasco and government
bailouts, I found myself buying into the notion of self-defeat. I had become
chicken little and my sky was the financial recession. What I mean to say is,
I was believing what I was reading and watching on TV. I had resigned myself
to think that 2009 would be a hardship year full of struggles and practice decline.
I shared my pathetic revelation to my two friends. Their telephone response
was a combination of a glass of water in my face, a verbal atomic wedgie (think
senior bully to weakling freshman) and a compass calibration. I was informed
that if 2009 was to be a down year, it was because I would let it happen.
Motivated by their encouragement, 2009 has actually been a great growth year.
My attitude got the adjustment it desperately needed. I write this to parallel
a point.
It's easy to fall in the trap of thinking that while we all fear shrinking profits,
national health care and higher taxes, that perhaps we'll cut back by not keeping
current with our ICS membership fees and PAC donations. And a trap this is!
It is the ICS who watches our collective backs across the state and especially
in Springfield. Without the ICS lobbying on our behalf and representing our
chiropractic interests, our adversaries gain strength and favor with policy
makers. Our support of the ICS is absolutely critical. Bluntly, this means:
pay your dues timely, donate to PAC, attend ICS Conventions and Workshops, get
involved in your ICS district activities, recruit non-members. To twist a line
from Jerry Maguire, HELP THEM HELP YOU.
Our ICS talent does a great job with the resources we equip them with but we
need to arm them with more resources. Daily, they field calls from ICS members
that need help, advice, and direction on many important issues...even an occasional
compass calibration.
I ask that you renew your personal commitment to be a strong ICS member and
proponent. They are your friend in good times and bad.
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