Planet Chiropractic News	Monday, June 17, 2002

Dr. Sid & Life University - GCN-NEWS@7:34 am PST  <>
By Sharon Gorman, D.C.
I've gotten several e-mails and calls from chiropractors and from 
chiropractic students about what is happening with Life University. I 
had some of 
the patients that are now students call and say "What should I 
do?" I've told them all the same thing and I thought I might share 
some lessons I've learned about Dr. Sid by being affiliated with him 
and Life since 1979. It ain't over 'til it's over!
When I was in school the local Atlanta news show did a week long 
expose on Dr. Sid and the alleged wrong doings at the college. I 
remember distinctly Dr. Sid getting up in front of the entire student 
body at assembly and explaining to us that there were going to be 
very positive effects caused by the programing. Quite frankly we 
students thought that he was crazy. Well maybe he is a little crazy. 
It would drive the most sane person a little crazy to deal with all the 
adversity that that man and his partner Dr. Nell have survived over 
the year. My experience has always been that they always come 
out smelling like a rose. Not everyone might agree in every instance 
yet if you listen to Dr. Sid he absolutely turns the most negative 
crisis into a positive experience. Well you might be thinking that he 
practices positive thinking. He won't let the negatives penetrate his 
consciousness. He sees things the way that he wants them to be 
not always as they appear to those of us who are looking from the 
outside. I think he focuses on the solution not the problem. He is 
not willing to give in to the fact that things don't always go his way. 
He doesn't doubt that every situation, as impossible as it seems, 
will turn out in the favor of chiropractic and the truth. He doesn't 
question God's will, he lives it even when it is not his will. He KEEPS 
on going no matter what. He has had to give up worrying about 
what we think of him, he doesn't have time for that. He must muster 
up strength even when his strongest allies question his ability to 
persevere. I never question his abilities. As long as he is still in the 
drivers seat I will continue to support Life University.
I want to have my students as close to this man as I can get them. 
I want them to see this man in action. I want them to learn how to 
turn every situation to their benefit. I remember Dr. Sid said many 
years ago that you can always trust your enemies even more than 
your friends because you know what their next move will be, you 
can never be sure of your friends. The situation at hand has been in 
the works for years, maybe more accurately stated, decades. The 
battle might even outlive him. It is a condition that exists in our 
profession. A difference that exists that most of us have accepted 
and have learned to happily co-exist with as a reality. The true 
problem comes into play when one group judges themselves as 
superior and tries to control the other group. It is only natural that 
they hit Dr. Sid's headquarters first. If they win there then the 
smaller camps will fold easier or just put up their white flags. 
Fortunately when one group attacks another group the group that 
is attacked wakes up, they unite under a common cause and they 
brace themselves for battle because when questioned they are 
forced to show their true colors and stand together for what they 
think is "right." I hope you are pissed. I AM! I hope we can forget 
the little differences and get clearer on our purpose so that we can 
proceed with the Freedom to continue to practice what we believe 
chiropractic is all about. Sure I think that we are right and they are 
less right yet I would not desire to regulate their right to practice as 
they choose, as it seems, they are trying to regulate our practice.
I know I usually try to stay neutral and in the realm of a philosopher 
yet when pushed I push back. I believe that if we chiropractors stop 
standing for something than we will fall for anything. If we don't 
stay distinct as ChiropractORS we will be swallowed up under the 
realm of allopathy. It is what makes us different that has insured 
our survival. Chiropractic has gotten where it has because it gets 
sick people well and keeps people functioning to their maximum 
potential. Please don't turn our beautiful art into another 
therapeutic protocol in our continued quest to not feel anything and 
live a numb existence by simply turning health care into the quest to 
remove symptoms. If our goal is to remove symptoms than we can't 
compete with the symptom treaters, the medics have drugs and 
surgery and thank God someone is handling what they are handling 
yet realize that is not my purpose as a chiropractor. I don't want to 
misrepresent myself to the public as a pseudo medic. I don't want 
to replace any other approach to health whether I feel they need to 
be improved or not. If I wanted to be better at their game than 
them I would have been a medic and learned their trade and tried 
to change them from within.
As a chiropractor I have a different philosophy to bring to the world. 
I've got a big job. They treat from outside in and I work from inside 
out. My educated doesn't have to name people's diseases. I 
couldn't possibly do that as well as the medic. My time and energy 
needs to be concentrated on teaching people about the principals 
that chiropractic are based and on delivering the goods. I need to 
be a master of something and not a jack of all trades. I am a master 
adjuster. I have a purpose and I have enough to do without 
incorporating other diagnosing and treatment methods.
The truth will always survive. I can see something very good coming 
out of all of this. I can see chiropractors who choose to keep 
chiropracTIC alive cleaning up their act. Those that have sold out for 
the mighty dollar will come back together when they wake up to the 
importance of what is really important in life. A Purpose, a purpose 
that has been the spark in our life that has made the drive to work 
and the opportunity to serve the biggest honor that has been 
bestowed upon us. I am not excited to go to work because there 
will be opportunity for the people to experience less low back pain 
as a result of going to work. I'm excited because of the implications 
on our society as we create a new consciousness wherein the 
public is given the opportunity to select lifetime chiropractic care for 
the expressed purpose of living a life filled with more aliveness as a 
byproduct of choosing to remove their subluxations before the 
effects are suffered. I offer them a freedom of choice and I will do 
whatever I can to assure the legality of continuing this practice.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Dr. Sharon Gorman is a graduate of Life Chiropractic College. Upon 
graduation, she associated with her mentor Dr. James Sigafoose. 
She opened her own practice in June of 1985 and in 3 months was 
seeing over 100 patients a day. Within 4 years, she had established 
four chiropractic practices seeing combined over 5000 patients a 
month. Now, married with 4 children, she still practices part time 
and manages 3 successful practices. She is a speaker at Dynamic 
Essentials, New Beginnings, Parker Seminars and is the founder and 
hostess of the Focus Philosophy Weekends. Visit her website at: 
www.focuschiropractic.com