Back Talk: Dad as Life Coach

Dr. Karl Schwartz

Last month, I celebrated the moms, the glue that holds the entire family unit together. However, as we progress into June, I am surrounded by news about the return to “normal” life post-COVID. Graduations are inperson again and everyone is busy with big plans for travel and vacation. Patients are enthusiastic about sports returning in full force; stadiums and arenas have opened up to full capacity, and the fans are returning in force with all the fervor, frenzy and enthusiasm we have all been missing. But with all the celebration around the end of COVID and the return to life as we knew it eighteen months ago, let’s not forget about the big holiday on June 20 - Father’s Day.

I like to think of dads as grown-up boys with a lot more responsibility. Most dads love to relive their own youth and an earlier time when life was simple and centered primarily on competition. As we age, we often live vicariously through our kids and the sports challenges they face. Sports teach us many things: hard work, discipline, focus, teamwork, emotional support, and the grace of winning and sometimes the acceptance of losing. Many athletes become excellent business owners and entrepreneurs because they learned these valuable lessons as kids competing in a sport. Many people who are not interested in sports learn the same lessons in academic competition. The students with the best grades have a better opportunity to attend the most prestigious colleges, which in turn can lead to better job opportunities. Competition is important in all aspects of our lives. Hard work leads to higher respect and higher rewards, higher wages, and higher social status. Humans are genetically wired and culturally programmed to compete. There is a “survival of the fittest” is all aspects of our lives. Those who compete understand this, those that don’t are often left behind.

So, here’s to all the dads, who love the competition and strive to become the best at whatever they do. Be it sports, education, politics or charity, be the best at what you do and instill that in your kids. This lesson will take your kids beyond mediocrity - it will propel them to their dreams.

Dads instill the spirit of competition, camaraderie, discipline, problem solving, goals and planning. Sports are not just grown men getting paid to play a game. For any dad that knows what I am saying here, let’s keep you healthy so you continue to motivate your kids to be the best they can be!

Dr. Karl Schwartz is a graduate of Life University in Marietta, Georgia; he has been practicing chiropractic in Tucker for twenty-one years and a resident here for fifteen years. His office specializes in preventing sports injuries and maximizing performance by analyzing posture, weight bearing, and gait. If you have a question you would like addressed in a future column, please email karlschwartzdc@gmail. com. Note “Back Talk” in the subject line. CAMP DATES JUNE 21-24 JULY 12-15 JULY 26-29

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