Get in the Game.

Timing is everything.  Last week, I had my first encounter with a life coach.  I was nervous.  Talking to a life coach is like going to counseling, without the option of blaming your parents or your husband for your personal hangups.  It was paid for by a leadership program that I'm participating in, so we only had 30 minutes.  In this scenario, the past and the present become irrelevant.  It's all about the future.

She encouraged me to write down where I want to be professionally and personally in 20 years and work my way back to 2012.  That kind of freedom to shape the future is completely liberating.  I've always known that I want to do more than practice law.  This exercise helped me to articulate my goals and begin to think through my current situation through the eyes of my future self.  Thanks life coach- for the first time in months, I am back in the game.

Just Do It.

Have you ever heard of Angela Burgin Logan?  She was interviewed today on the Tom Joyner Morning Show about her new movie, "Breathe."  The most fascinating part of her story is the fact that she and her husband spent their life savings to create a film depicting her actual near-death experience with preeclampsia and cardiomyopathy during pregnancy.  She took this horrible experience and made it her life's work to share her story with others.  I think that is an incredible example of excellence in action.  You can find her blog here. The trailer for the movie is here.  Ms. Logan, I salute you and can't wait to see your film.

Carrying the Load.

Hello Dear Readers,
Stress sucks.  But you already knew that. The last few months of my life have been full of it.  So much so that I found myself sitting in my office close to tears the other day just listening to Anna Nalick's melancholy masterpiece, "Breathe," and literally trying to follow her instructions. Innn and outtt. Innnn and outtt.   Marriage. Children. Health. Workload.  Finances. Life is suffocating sometimes.  Just... breathe.  I found myself in the lyric:

'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe,
Oh breathe, just breathe

There I sat- fighting back the tears.  After a few unwelcome interruptions from phone calls, emails, text messages and an illtimed question from my secretary, I took my burdens on the road.  To the bathroom.  You know you're stressed when you find yourself standing in a stall at work at least twice a day doing breathing exercises.  If your workplace is anything like mine, standing in the bathroom taking deep breaths can be is deeply unpleasant. At times like this,  I am thankful for seasonal allergies.  I can cry in the bathroom and then blame pollen for the red eyes.  But that's not the point of this post. 

Like I said, stress sucks.  Extreme stress can be crushing.  But perspective can make the difference between a breakdown and a breakthrough (forgive that last Oprahism-  I'm tired and need to bring this post home before I go to bed).  I found a quote that was a turning point for me.  Somewhere on some inspirational website I stumbled upon while searching the Internet, I found it: According to random sources, the great Lena Horne once said, "It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."  Thanks Lena--Well said (if she actually said it) .  Just looking at stress this way has helped tremendously. Stress will always be present, but  we can't just breathe our way through it.  At some point, we have to shift the weight of it all from our own shoulders and trust God to bear the load as he instructs us in Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7.  So much easier said than done.  

This is an ongoing process for me.  I'll keep you posted.

Two Strides Forward, Coldstone Back.

Today I went running for the second day in a row!  Then we took the kids to Coldstone and I ordered this salted caramel--Reese's cup--graham cracker--hot fudge--workout eraser.  What started as a simple trip to McDonalds for vanilla cones turned into a detour to Coldstone for the fancy stuff.   DELICIOUS. I've already got my running shoes ready for tomorrow.

Hello!

Hello Dear Readers! This is my first post from my new iPad. I continue to break the cardinal rule of blogging-write!! I am fast approaching another point of transition in my life and I hope to tell you more soon. Really.

89 Days Later...

Hello Dear Readers,
Sweet tea and swimming parties have now been replaced with pumpkin spiced lattes and fall festivals. Almost three months have passed since our last talk. Hope you are well! First, the big news- I am now officially a licensed NC attorney! Two for two on passing the bar (NC is my second license). Most of my family and a few close friends traveled to NC to witness my swearing in ceremony- such a blessing. My youngest son turned four, had a superhero birthday party and had his tonsils removed in the space of three weeks. My oldest son started first grade, finally got his two front teeth back (after a two year absence)and learned how to vacuum. Good times. Those are the highlights- or at least all the news that's "fit to print."
I have struggled mightily with the idea of this blog- still unsure exactly what I want to do with it. For most of the last three months my failure to post has been intentional. But one day last week, after watching another unbearable episode of the new BET show "Reed Between the Lines" starring Theo Huxtable himself, I found myself drifting over to this blog for inspiration. I found it. I'm back.

More soon.

After the bar exam

Its been a long time. I'mmmm Baaaack! Hello Dear Readers, I have truly missed you. Many a day has passed that I planned to check in with an update, but alas, preparing for the bar exam is in a word, BRUTAL!!!!! ... Do you know how to apply the Rule Against Perpetuities? Who is the fertile octogenerian and why should you care? Can you recall what factors give a court personal jurisdiction over an out of state defendant? Can you recite the different standards the Supreme Court uses to analyze restrictions on commercial speech, core political speech, symbolic speech, nonpublic forum speech, public forum speech, public employee speech etc.? If you sign a contract to buy a house, and it is struck by lightning and destroyed before closing, who is on the hook- you or the seller?

Ok, ok- here's an easy one. What are the nine types of marital misconduct that the court will consider in awarding alimony? Does Grandma have a right to demand visitation with your kids? Can you set up a trust for your cat? Can a lawyer lend a client money to buy milk for their starving baby? Can you shoot an intruder who enters your house? If so- what doctrine is your defense and what crime did they commit? If the President signs a treaty and Congress passes a law to overrule it, who wins under the Constitution? What does the Constitution actually say, anyway? Finally, what are the three ways you can be charged with first degree murder in North Carolina?

This is just a very small sample of the information that has been carefully catalogued in my mind over the last three months. [Side note: if any of you have seen the movie, "Limitless" you realize what great potential now rests within the recesses of my brain. If you haven't seen it, you should. Great film.] The bar exam covers 14 subjects over two days in the format of 12 essays and 200 excruciating multiple choice questions. It is truly an endurance test. Even though I've been through this before in another state, it wasn't any easier the second time around.  It has been almost a week, and I'm still coming down from the experience.

I'm sitting in the library as I type this post. The last hoop I must jump through to gain my license is to sit for the the multistate ethics exam this Friday. It is a relatively minor feat compared to the bar exam, but just hard enough that failure to prepare equals failure.

I hope you have all been well.  Thanks so much for letting me ramble- especially if you've made it this far into this post.  It's good to be back.  Excellence is deliberate- Amen to that!