Are You a Hotdog?

One of the most exciting aspects of a football game is watching a player running down the field toward the end-zone, in the clear, looking like he is going to score a touchdown. Sometimes they may even run almost the entire length of the field but they  never seem to celebrate  with their teammates at the end. Why? Because they know they have stepped out of bounds and the referee has blown the whistle. The noise of the crowd and my having the volume turned down (usually I am doing something else while watching the game especially the way the Eagles play). I never heard the commentator say the play was over and the ball will be brought back to the place where the ball carrier stepped out of bounds. It should be obvious when the opposition has stopped pursuing him. The runner has in all likelihood heard it, perhaps even realized when and where he stepped over the sideline marker. We used to call that “hotdogging”

There are obvious boundaries, sidelines, end-zones and other markers that are a requirement for the game of football. The same is true for baseball, basketball, and soccer. All of them must be played within the boundaries. The same is true for the running of any country, company or organization. We call them laws or regulations. Our profession has clear boundaries. Unfortunately the state laws often do not clearly cover them. They are only for the protection of the public, the citizens of that particular state. That is why they often vary from state to state. They are like the speed laws that change depending on the road conditions. I tend to drive slower in the dark, especially in the rural area where I live. My educated brain tells me I should drive slower than even the speed limit says. ( my wife tells me I should not be driving at all).

The 33 principles and our objective are our boundaries. If we practice within those boundaries, we don’t have to worry about violating the law. The chiropractic philosophy is the referee. Are we listening to and obeying the whistle?