A Walk Along a New Path

I took a walk this past week: Out of the office I have occupied for the past two-and-a-half years, out of the position I have held for the past three years, and out of the organization by which I have been employed for the past seven years. On Monday morning, I will walk into a new workplace, be assigned to a new office and areas of responsibility, and begin getting acquainted with new colleagues.

On Monday, I will begin to walk along a new and different professional path.

I make it my practice not to write here about my professional pursuits and coworkers, other than to reveal that I am an attorney. That will not change, but I do feel it is appropriate to note this milestone and the new direction of my life journey.

I am blessed to have spent the past seven years performing work that was meaningful and important. I’m thankful that I was able to help others through litigation and education. But for many reasons, I knew it was time to move on. Fortunately, once I accepted that fact and made up my mind to take purposeful steps to secure a different position, a completely unexpected new opportunity presented itself. (Did I manifest it? I believe I did.) So I jumped at the chance to make the change.

This new opportunity is equally a blessing. I am a firm believer in the value of lifelong learning, so I’m thrilled to be able to continue expanding my knowledge of the law and embrace new challenges. I’m looking forward to another long, successful association with my new peers.

My parents taught me that hard work is a virtue. But they also taught me something else: Life is too short to be miserable, unhappy, unfulfilled. They were part of a generation that was robbed, because of the Depression’s impact upon their lives, of many of the joyful aspects of life that so many of us take for granted. Growing up watching them work hard but without the happiness that comes from loving one’s vocation, I determined to create a career for myself that would, in many ways, not only define me as a human being, but also bring me contentment from completion of the work itself, i.e., the actual act of performing various tasks. That I am able, through my work, to improve another person’s circumstances or obtain redress for harm that they have suffered is frosting on the cake that allows me to look at my own reflection in the mirror every morning and sleep peacefully each night.

It is a beautiful morning here in Northern California. The leaves and air are both crisp, but the sun is shining brightly and the sky is a cloudless blue. I wish each of you a wonderful, blessed Sunday, the first in the season of Advent leading to the most magical and mysterious night of the year, Christmas Eve.