Spiritual Scoliosis

So, first off, I'd like to make a shout out to my stomping grounds, Fort Collins, Colorado. Today, in the first session of General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson announced three new temples, one of them being in Fort Collins, Colorado! I can hardly contain my excitement. A temple in my hometown! Awesome!
Now, with that out of the way, I move on the spiritual upliftment.

This is the actual X-Ray of my neck

So, after a back injury (kinda), I went to the chiropractor the other day. It was kinda cool. There were times when the doctor would push on my arm, and push it right down. Then, he would pop my back, and try again, and this time I'd be able to keep my arm up (therein lies a nice little analogy, and maybe I'll touch on that later). After this, he took x-rays of my spine. When he put them up to look at, I thought I saw something weird about the view of my spine. Sure enough, he came back, looked at them, and said "oh." Not something you really want to hear from a doctor. He then let me know that my spine was crooked, something I had kind of noticed myself. It was an interesting experience, seeing my spine leaning to the right. Also, from the side view, my neck forms a 4 degree angle (not sure exactly how it's measured) when the average is 28 degrees. Awesome. So, where my neck should be curved it's straight, and where my neck should be straight it's curved. He explained to me that the reason for scoliosis is while you're still young, the bones are still cartilage. Eventually, the start to calcify. If, during this stage, you do something to offset balance, such as wearing a backpack primarily one one arm (which is my guess as to what I did), then more weight will be put on that side of the spine, causing it to curve, in order to make sure the head is straight. Because of this unbalanced weight distribution, my neck now has a nice rightward slant.

A yoke is something used to distribute the weight of the cart between two animals pulling it, be they oxen, horses, or whatever. It serves two purposes: 1. it keeps them even, so the cart will go straight, and 2. it balances the load out so they're both bearing the same amount. In Matthew 11:29, the Savior says "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." We're all weak, and can't handle the rigors of this life alone. If we try to handle it on our own, there will be an uneven distribution of weight on just us, and it can cause some problems (for example, a curved spine). We are tender, and just coming into our own, and need all the support we can get. It would be unwise to try to manage on our own. We need to be able to balance out everything, evenly, so we're able to keep straight and upright. A yoke requires another participant, and who better to have help you than the Lord? He's strong, and able to take on anything, and would be the perfect candidate. He's strong enough that He can take most of the weight on His own shoulders, and bear a majority of the load, making it easier for us. In all we do, we should make sure we are yoked to the Savior, making sure our burden is lighter and evenly balanced, and avoiding spiritual scoliosis.