I.... No WE.... Did it.

You know... there was a time that I didn't think I was worth very much. Those were very painful years. I didn't really have a great reason or anything that I could put my finger on. I just thought that I was generally worthless. This might surprise some of you who know me now, but I used to struggle. It was middle school and the early years of high school. I didn't think that I had many friends. I let my grades slip. I constantly compared myself to my older sisters who I thought were brilliant in every way (about that I was mostly right). Over the years I have tried hard to forget about that sad kid I used to be. A lot of water has rolled under the bridge and many suns have set since those days. I hadn't thought about the former me for a long time. Lately I've thought about him a lot.

I, or it's more accurate to say "we", finished chiropractic school this week. I am now Dr. Jason J. Young, DC. It feels as strange for me to type it as it probably feels for you to read it. Half of my lifetime later that confused little boy turned out to be a doctor. It's a mistake to make it sound like a passive process though. In the years in between I have really been through the fire in a lot of ways. I have worked and sweated and failed and tried again and cried and laughed. But above all I have learned. What have I learned? I think that I've learned, or rather that I'm learning, that I'm not just me.

I am my mother who chose my name understanding its meaning: Jason (Healer) Jamaal (Handsome) Young (Duh... you figure this one out). She says that she always knew what I would become. I am my father who sees in me an heir and has loved me and believed in me from the beginning. He constantly reminds me (not only with words) that who I am reflects on him. Like my other Father, his glory comes with the quality of his children. I am my sisters who not only push me and challenge me, but they lift me up and support me. I am my brother, in who's eyes I can do no wrong. I am my mother and father-in-law who, after welcoming me into their family, took a detour from the course they plotted in life to help care for my family as I was in school. I am all of the friends I have had, even the ones from the period I described as the dark times of my life, the ones I didn't realize then, that I had. I am the hopes and dreams of ancestors who once sacrificed and endured trials so that I could have this blessed opportunity. I am my peers and colleagues who helped me along the way, who laughed and cried with me, or who let me laugh and cry with them. I am my wife who sacrificed just about everything which resembled independance on individuality for the sake of our family and our dreams. I am my beautiful daughters who love me unconditionally who remind me to play often and loud.

There are a lot of parts to who I have become, so far. Above all though, I am the boy from middle school or the early years of high school. I'm that same person. When I finished taking the last final I ever intend to take, I walked quickly to my car at the far end of the parking lot. I had to. I couldn't stop the tears from coming. All I could think about was that boy. I wanted to go back and give him a hug and hold him. I wanted to let him know the he should keep his head up and believe what his parents said about him. I wanted to tell him that he wasn't a loser. That one day people who were suffering, sick, or otherwise afflicted would call him "Doctor". I wanted him to know that he had the power to help and heal them. It's not because of the training, although that is a part of it. It's because of who he is, or who he is becoming.

I want to thank all of you who have supported me and my family over the years. I can't name you all and you may not have thought that you helped. We appreciate it so much. I'm so glad that I was wrong all of those years. I wonder how my life would be right now if I had believed in myself the way some of you believed in me then. That's why I say "we" did it. But what have we done? I'm not sure yet.... this is only part of the beginning.

*****

For those of you who may be curious as to what comes next. I will start my internship in Southwest Portland in a week. I complete that at the end of the summmer. When that is done I will be traveling around the Pacific NW, Utah and Texas as a recruiter for the chiropractic college. In November I take the last part of the national board examinations and when the scores are available in January, I anticipate opening a clinic in Corvallis.

I'm sorry if you were expecting something funny. I guess I was just feeling sentimental and sappy today. I'm going to include some graduation pictures and eventually a video of me being hooded with my regalia. Some of them are really low resolution because I am unwilling/able to pay the $50 the photographer is charging for the high-res copy.

-Dr. Jason Young, DC

Universe??? How about a Red Bull???

You may have heard of it? "The Secret" Men don't want to talk about it because they would probably have to admit that they watched Oprah. People who use it are annoying because... well they have all of the stuff they want (or so they say). Ironically "the Secret" has become so popular it can hardly be called "the Secret" anymore can it? By now you are probably intrigued and wondering, "What is 'the Secret'? and why don't I know it?" BECAUSE ITS A SECRET!

Nah... I wouldn't do that to you. The secret is the law of attraction. Basically to plagarized from some guy I saw on the movie version of "the Secret" it is summed up in three words:

THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS

One of my wife's friends let her borrow the DVD and after about 4 months of it sitting in our home we decided that it was time to escape our abject poverty and 24/7 life of mediocrity only owning two cars, two kids and 2.5 higher education degrees. We popped in the video and started learning from some of the world's most famous (I had never heard of them) visionaries, philosophers, psychics, blackjack dealers, and even one chiropractor. They made a strong case that what you focus on you create in your life. THAT'S THE SECRET! It's not that you CAN manifest the things that you focus on in your life. Its that you DO manifest them. The way they put it is that the Universe is like a magic Genie who only says, "Your wish is my command" and gives you what you wish for.

Example #1:

You - I'm worried that the neighbors don't like the color we painted the house

Universe - Your wish is my command

Result - 24 hours later your house is egged

Example #2:

You - I'm so happy. Why? Because today there is going to be some money in my mailbox!

Universe - Your wish is my command

Result - 3 pm the mail arrives. Pizza hut coupons and two credit card applications included

Example #3:

You - A girl that pretty would never like a guy like me.

Universe - Your wish is my command

Result - Pretty girl falls in love with the guy from example two because he can make ends meet.

See how that works? All joking aside I was pretty inspired by this video but I'm a bit skeptical. Over the past 3 years, training to become a Doctor has honed my mind into a shrewd observer of natural and scientific phenomenon. So I applied the scientific method working under the hypothesis that if I focused hard enough on something it would happen. But it's not just focusing... You have to FEEL it! So knowing that I only had one patient on my schedule for the next morning I then started to feel happy about the fact that I was actually going to be seeing two! I told my wife before we went to bed that night, "Honey, I'm excited because when I left school yesterday there was only one patient on the schedule for tomorrow but I've decided that I'll see two instead!" And wouldn't you know, the next morning I showed up at the clinic and there were two patients on the schedule and both kept their appointments. Score one for "the Secret". Hmmmmm what could I conjure up next? I guess it would be nice to have a building to practice in once I graduate. Universe? How about it? Low-and-behold I jumped on the internet and found a perfect location in a new building that was WAY underpriced! Had I actually done it? Had I unleashed the power of "the Secret"? OPRAH? Oprah is that you, girl?

I called my wife. "Honey I did it! I.... ummm.... (what do you call it).... I Secreted up some... the Universe it..... well..... How are the kids?"

Fast forward to right now. It's 1 AM and I'm supposed to be working an a paper that needs to be in tomorrow morning. So naturally I am blogging. But I'm just so tired and the paper is mind numbing. So here is the ultimate test of "the Secret". I'm just THRILLED that there is a Red Bull in my fridge right now! WOO HOO! Why? BECAUSE RED BULL GIVES YOU WINGS! So how about it Universe? Where's my can of Red Bull? AND MAKE IT DIET! I don't need the extra calories.

But you know... if this works.... if I open the fridge and there's my Red Bull, I'm not going to drink it. Nope. That would keep me awake. Why stay up when I can just be happy that the Universe is going to finish my paper and I'll pick it up from him in the morning? THANKS PAL!

PSALMS 31:6

The Daddy Club - Membership has its privileges

Fatherhood has its privileges. When one becomes a "Daddy" certain rights and priveleges are bestowed as well. Sure there are an endless list of responsibilities, however, it is my goal to explore some of the lavish benefits that result from entering the ranks of Papa-dom. We don't have a clubhouse, regular meetings, a secret handshake, chapters, uniforms, or membership cards. Despite this, our franternity of paternity allows us abilities and rights that normal human beings do not enjoy.
ARTICLE I. - Basketball Rights
Fathers claim the exclusive rights to making bank-shots without calling them. This is not limited to lay-ups like normal basketball players. As a father I can bank a three-pointer and when you make some smart remark like "Did you call that?" all that is required of me is to pull a sweaty wallet-sized picture of my beautiful daughters out of my shoe and show it to you. Then if I choose to I can slap that picture on your forehead and make you play with it on there for the remainder of the game. Daddys also claim the right to the following privileges regarding fouls: unlimited fouls, fouling without contact because we would have fouled you if we could have caught you, calling a foul any time we are injured even if its a groin pull at the water cooler, and calling a foul any time we miss a shot (contact by an opponent is not required). In addition we claim the right to: unlimited time-outs, defense that never crosses half-court, shooting where ever we feel like it (especially a hook shot), and of course unlimited sweating.
ARTICLE II. - Fashion
Fathers may wear black socks with anything. This includes but is not limited to: dress shoes, running shoes, basketball shoes, slippers, Birkenstocks, flip-flops, boxer shorts, flippers, ballet slippers, and hockey masks.
Daddys have the right to enter some articles of clothing into the "Federal Garment Protection Program". This prevents wives, children, etc. from borrowing or discarding clothes that may be comfortable (regardless of condition or fashion) or of sentimental value (ie. lucky jerseys, hats, eye patches, etc.). When this basic right of fatherhood is violated via the routine or ritualistic destruction or discarding of these vestitures, fathers then have the exclusive right to purchase a high-end electronic device such as a High definition plasma TV.
ARTICLE III. - Facts
Shortly after the sperm fertilizes an egg, fathers develop an encyclopedic knowledge of..... EVERYTHING. This is mostly because daddys have the ability and authority to invent facts. We claim this privelege based on the fact that we are constantly bombarded with questions that we could not possibly know the answer to anyway.

Example 1:
Mother: WHO LEFT THE TOILET SEAT UP???
Father: IT WAS THE HOBBITS DARLING!

Example 2:
Child: Dad, Where do baby elephants come from?
Father: Cleveland.


More to come......

Saving the world one blog at a time.

I did it.... I decided that the world needed another blog. It's rather ironic that I can't figure out how people have any time to read blogs yet here I am adding to the billions if not trillions of words to read on the internet. I wonder if anybody will even find their way here. So why do I write? Because blogs will save the world, that is if they don't destroy it first.
If you know me, or somebody like me, then you know that I have an opinion about everything. I don't just mean everything though, I mean everything. You want to know what what I think about the rising price of gas? I think it's ridiculous that we have to pay for the oil industry's equipment manlfunction. Why don't they have to take a cut in profits like every other industry? You want to know what I think about football? The 49ers will be back in the playoffs this year or the one after. You want to know what I think about politics? I think that the bipartisan system is the cancer of American government. Let me guess... you didn't want to know any of that. THIS is how blogs are saving the world! You don't want to know this stuff but people like me want to tell you SO badly. We drive you crazy... to the point of insanity. You go out, buy a gun and hold up a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant for all of the game tokens. But through the miracle of blogging I can pretend that you are reading this and I never have to utter a word to you about why it bothers me that people say things like "same difference" instead of "no difference" (that's for a later blog). It feels good. See? I feel so much better having written all of this and you never had to hear a word of it. If you've read this far you're probably very confused or you have a headache by now and I apologize. I promise I'll never post anything this strange again.

-J