Ugly

Everyone in the apartment complex I lived in knew who Ugly was. Ugly was the resident tomcat.

Ugly loved three things in this world: fighting, eating garbage, and shall we say, love. The combination of these things combined with a life spent outside had their effect on Ugly.



To start with, he had only one eye, and where the other should have been was a gaping hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side, his left foot has appeared to have been badly broken at one time, and had healed at an unnatural angle, making him look like he was always turning the corner. His tail has long since been lost, leaving only the smallest stub, which he would constantly jerk and twitch. Ugly would have been a dark gray tabby striped-type, except for the sores covering his head, neck, even his shoulders with thick, yellowing scabs.



Every time someone saw Ugly there was the same reaction. "That's one UGLY cat!!"



All the children were warned not to touch him, the adults threw rocks at him, hosed him down, squirted him when he tried to come in their homes, or shut his paws in the door when he would not leave.



Ugly always had the same reaction. If you turned the hose on him, he would stand there, getting soaked until you gave up and quit. If you threw things at him, he would curl his lanky body around feet in forgiveness. Whenever he spied children, he would come running meowing frantically and bump his head against their hands, begging for their love. If you ever picked him up he would immediately begin suckling on your shirt, earrings, whatever he could find.



One day Ugly shared his love with the neighbors huskies. They did not respond kindly, and Ugly was badly mauled. From my apartment I could hear his screams, and I tried to rush to his aid. By the time I got to where he was laying, it was apparent Ugly's sad life was almost at an end.



Ugly lay in a wet circle, his back legs and lower back twisted grossly out of shape, a gaping tear in the white strip of fur that ran down his front. As I picked him up and tried to carry him home I could hear him wheezing and gasping, and could feel him struggling. I must be hurting him terribly I thought.



Then I felt a familiar tugging, sucking sensation on my ear - Ugly, in so much pain, suffering and obviously dying was trying to suckle my ear. I pulled him closer to me, and he bumped the palm of my hand with his head, then he turned his one golden eye towards me, and I could hear the distinct sound of purring. Even in the greatest pain, that ugly battled-scarred cat was asking only for a little affection, perhaps some compassion.



At that moment I thought Ugly was the most beautiful, loving creature I had ever seen. Never once did he try to bite or scratch me, or even try to get away from me, or struggle in any way. Ugly just looked up at me completely trusting in me to relieve his pain.



Ugly died in my arms before I could get inside, but I sat and held him for a long time afterwards, thinking about how one scarred, deformed little stray could so alter my opinion about what it means to have true pureness of spirit, to love so totally and truly. Ugly taught me more about giving and compassion than a thousand books, lectures, or talk show specials ever could, and for that I will always be thankful. He had been scarred on the outside, but I was scarred on the inside, and it was time for me to move on and learn to love truly and deeply. -- Author Unknown

Making A Difference

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to
do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he
began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked
down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled
to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he
began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it
was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was
reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently
throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer he called out, "Good
morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and
replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have
asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up,
and the tide is going out, and if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of
beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a
difference!" The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked
up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking
waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

There is something very special in each and every one of us. We have
all been gifted with the ability to make a difference, and if we can
become aware of that gift, we gain through the strength of our
visions the power to shape the future. We must each find our
starfish. And if we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will
be blessed.

-- Author Unknown

Golf and Chiropractic...

J Sports Sci. 2002 Aug;20(8):599-605.

Lindsay D, Horton J.

University of Calgary Sports Medicine Centre, Alberta, Canada. dlindsay@ucalgary.ca

Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting golfers, yet little is known of the specific mechanisms responsible for this injury. The aim of this study was to compare golf swing spinal motion in three movement planes between six male professional golfers with low back pain (age 29.2+/-6.4 years; height 1.79+/-0.04 m; body mass 78.2+/-12.2 kg; mean +/- s) and six without low back pain (age 32.7+/-4.8 years; height 1.75+/-0.03 m; body mass 85.8+/-10.9 kg) using a lightweight triaxial electrogoniometer. We found that golfers with low back pain tended to flex their spines more when addressing the ball and used significantly greater left side bending on the backswing. Golfers with low back pain also had less trunk rotation(obtained from a neutral posture), which resulted in a relative 'supramaximal' rotation of their spines when swinging. Pain-free golfers demonstrated over twice as much trunk flexion velocity on the downswing, which could relate to increased abdominal muscle activity in this group. This study is the first to show distinct differences in the swing mechanics between golfers with and without low back pain and provides valuable guidance for clinicians and teachers to improve technique to facilitate recovery from golf-related low back pain