By Suzanne Schmidt
Later this year, influential people from all over the world will come together to talk at the World Forum for Ethics in Business at the European Parliament.
Scott Paton, a chiropractor in Lutz, recently received an invitation to attend the event and give a speech.
“I am so excited I am going to lecture on the parliament floor,” Paton said. “It is like being invited to the capital and talking on the Capitol floor. Every time I accomplish something I always try to do better, but I don’t think I can get better than this. This is definitely something I will tell my grandchildren about.”
Paton said he plans to spend his time there learning.
“I think the best thing I can gain from this experience is to form relationships with influential people around the world and learn from them,” Paton said. “I will be surrounded by successful people. I plan to learn everything I can from them and emulate them so I can get to that point.”
A list of attendees has not been released for this year, but in the past people from throughout the world have given speeches including former prime ministers of Poland, The Netherlands and Luxembourg.
Paton said when he gives his speech, he wants to focus on health because that is what he knows. He said he will talk about what he thinks should be done for health on a global scale.
“So many health problems could be eradicated if we change the way we treat the water,” Paton said. “The suggestion I would make is to treat the water and build a sewer and septic system in Africa. We spend a lot of money to treat the problem with medication. All medications do is help treat the infection, but we need to wipe out the infections before they start.”
He said he also plans to talk about what he thinks makes his business successful.
“When you can leave your opinion out of it and just listen to the patient, it makes a big difference,” Paton said. “People will leave here and tell me that they just feel so much better and that is because someone is listening to them.”
Danielle Sickler, assistant to Paton, said she thinks Paton is a perfect person to talk about ethics due to the way he runs his business.
“We openly communicate with each other and with our patients,” Sickler said. “We are like a family in here. We have our disagreements but we always end it with understanding each other. The most important thing is that we respect each other. We have a lot of love for what we do and we always give 100 percent.”
It is a personal triumph for Paton to just be able to get in front of people and speak.
“I loathed speaking in high school,” Paton said. “I had no confidence. I am proud of myself to be able to get up and speak in front of a crowd.”
One of the people Paton’s wife Janice is excited to meet is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of The Art of Living. Paton previously met him and was able to speak with him.
“I closed the office and flew up just to meet him so he cleared out the room and talked with me one-on-one,” Paton said. “We talked for a while and the best piece of advice he gave me was to realize that for every finger I point at a person, there are three pointing back at me. He was telling me that if I accuse someone of something, I am three times as bad as that person I accused.”
Paton said he was shocked when he received the invitation, but that it taught him an important lesson.
“I learned that nothing comes easy,” Paton said. “It is my outlook on life to always be nice to people even when I don’t want to be nice. I think having that attitude has helped me to open doors.”
He said he can trace this opportunity back to when he went to the Olympics to give a lecture in 2004. He was visiting the lecture hall where he would be speaking the next day when he saw there was a meditation lecture going on. Glaser was speaking when Paton and his wife Janice walked in.
The couple ended up having such a good time, they were still standing there when Glaser was getting ready to leave.
“When Glaser walked up he was the most gentle person,” Paton said. “The way he lives his life is amazing. We ended up going to a meditation seminar with him. I thought it was so incredible. We kept in touch since then.”
Paton was invited to the forum based on a recommendation by Glaser.
“What if I didn’t go in that room,” Paton said. “I would never have discovered meditation and I would never have been invited to the forum. It was my open mindedness that helped me to just do it.”
Paton is a chiropractor and certified athletic trainer at his business Paton Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, 24722 SR 54 in Lutz.
He said being a chiropractor for the last 10 years has been amazing.
“I love what I do,” Paton said. “I get to help people and change their health. I love being able to have a positive effect on people’s lives. To see someone get better is just amazing. I take care of people and go out of my way to help others. I keep on pushing myself to be the best dad, husband and chiropractor I can be.”
For more information, visit www.PatonChiropractic.com or call (813) 949-7740.
For more information on the World Forum, visit wfeb.org.
