THE TWO SHOE SALESMEN

Almost 10 years ago, before coming back to South Africa, my father told me a wonderful story that encapsulated my mindset while pondering leaving the U.S. It's a story about two shoe salesmen from rival manufacturers. They both arrive in a remote village and find that none of its inhabitants are wearing shoes. So the first salesman calls his head office and tells them to stop all shipments to this village, as "no one is wearing shoes." In contrast, the other salesman calls his suppliers and excitedly tells them to increase production and send all their stock to this village, because "no one is wearing shoes!" It's all a matter of your perspective.

Studies have shown that a very small percentage of the population have been to a chiropractor; about 15-20%. In South Africa, this percentage is even lower, because the vast majority of this country have not even heard of such a profession. What's even more rare in this country is the Activator Method. When I arrived here, it was a completely new concept. But to this day, it seems to attract a broad spectrum of people, most of whom have never been and would probably never even attempt to go to a chiropractor.

I have come across other doctors who don't feel like there is much opportunity here and feel the need to go to more developed countries. From my experience, it boggles my mind, because since starting in Louis Trichardt and later in Centurion, we've never had a shortage of people that need help. Today, we actually get more patients than we can accomodate. I wish I could see everyone, but keeping my life in balance helps to make me a better chiropractor, husband, and father. And I am grateful that my perspective was more like the second shoe salesman.