A full page story in a recent sports section of the Vancouver Sun really caught my eye. Initially it wasn’t as much the title – Nowhere to Go but Up – that aroused my curiosity, but the accompanying photo followed by the five column story outline. It was all about wall climbing. And the opening sentence said it all: In this sport, there is only one opponent. The Wall. Knowing nothing about wall climbing, and certainly never having participated in it, I somewhat eagerly read the whole article with interest.
As the title refers and the sub-headline states, the Sport is reaching new heights as the number of climbers grows rapidly, and then goes on to state that a few years ago climbing walls were a rarity but today everywhere you look there are signs of growth. But at the same time reference is made to the fact that climbing is one of our very first human activities. Don’t we pull ourselves up onto a chair or our mother’s leg before we start walking? Another aspect of wall climbing that caught my attention was the fact that while danger lurks around them a climber often has to rely on a perfect stranger to “spot” for them and as one expert climber states, A willingness to make friends is definitely a prerequisite of the sport. Sounds great for any sport!
Is there now a possibility with all this insight into a sport of which I knew little that I will now take it upon myself at this late stage of life to start something new and challenging? Not likely. But there is certainly wisdom and a challenge for all of us in the direction that wall climbing and life itself can take us. There is Nowhere to Go But Up! This saying of wisdom is certainly not new and has been applied over the years to endless efforts of human endeavour – and is certainly applicable to the wisdom found within the pages of this current issue of Professional Advisory. David Chong Yen and Louise Wong point out that with the new year upon us it’s time to consider financial and tax resolutions and they then outline ten resolutions that will take you nowhere but up. Mark McNulty continues to introduce his new book The $6 Million Dentist with the hope that it will be a useful tool for dentists at all stages to establish financial plans that again have nowhere to go but up. When dealing with Leasing Opportunities in the Current Realty Market Ian Toms outlines that if a tenant has realistic expectations and uses an approach geared to the current circumstances there is every opportunity to advance. Advance where? Nowhere but up of course!
David Rosenthal wisely outlines that Selling a Dental Practice in Stages is becoming more popular and that a staged sale can be an excellent arrangement that leads both the Vendor and Purchaser in certain circumstances where? Onward and up of course. It is interesting how in his review, Perceived Oversupply of Dental Offices, Ron Weintraub first deals with the seven sources of the abundance of dentists and then outlines the six solutions that should eventually lead dental practices into an upward enterprising direction. And how enlightening it is when David Lind’s daughter Kirsten outlines A Real Patient’s View of her very personal unhappy experiences with oral health that eventually finds a valued solution when a dental office’s goodwill policy leads her upward into a whole new perception of oral health care.
Yes, and with much satisfaction that it’s just not wall climbing, but also the multiple pages of sage advice within the Professional Advisory that helps point the dental profession Nowhere but Up!
