It’s five o’clock pm in the Johnson household, and family tension begins to be realized on this not-so-unusual night.

Stomping and stamping his feet, little Jimmy refuses to eat his broccoli. Unacceptable. The man of the house, Big Ben, is about to teach this kid a little thing called Tough Love.

Audible to the entire neighborhood, “COME HERE, KID!” sounded like the roar of a lion in the wild. Big Ben was boss around here, and what he says goes.

Little Jimmy reluctantly yields to his fathers command, only to be met by painful spanking on his back. This has happened before, so Jimmy suffers one hit at a time while waiting for his life when the pain will finally subside.

Maxim #1: If you treat it like an animal, expect it to behave like one.

Since we connect through shared emotions with our dog companions, they are thought of as man’s best friend. But, dogs do not speak English.

The strength of people is our ability to communicate with each other.

If my kid didn’t want to eat broccoli, I would view it as an opportunity to lead conversation about Broccoli!

"Nooo, don't eat meeee"

Promote connection by asking him thoughtful questions that encourage much deeper answers than, “I don’t like broc.” Yea, I used to not like broccoli. I used to not like girls either. Ironic, now that broccoli helps me get the girls today.

The point is that while I may not be entirely happy with my future son’s behavior all the time, I will take each broccoli scenario and turn it into a mutually beneficial one. Maybe he won’t eat broccoli on that particular night, but he’ll take away lessons of life, communication, and the hopefully the love of chopped florets.

Holistic Health accepts our vulnerabilities, and knows this moment now, and the next one too, is an opportunity for human potential.

The world is what you make of it, imagine what it’s like to realize potential in everything and everyone.