Deliberate Wellness— The Resilient Lawyer
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n late February 2020, I enjoyed a fantastic latte at Goddess and the Baker in Chicago, Illinois. I was in Chicago to speak at ABA Women of Legal Tech and teach yoga at ABA Techshow. After my Women of Legal Tech presentation, I met my law clerk for the latte. Ten days later, I was home in Omaha canceling trips because of the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. Days after that, I took my law office mostly remote and worked endless hours to help people navigate the COVID-19 crisis. During the first week of the pandemic, almost every call brought me near to tears. The first week was lay-offs, and almost every client I had ever worked with asked immediately for updated health care powers of attorney and wills. The second week was business after business shutting down or figuring out how to function as an essential business amid a pandemic. The practice of law is challenging in times that don’t include a pandemic. Lawyers often arrive at the office to an inbox full of e-mail, a voicemail full of messages, and an inbox full of urgent items to address. A lawyer’s day is filled with meetings, deadlines, demands, and urgency. Amidst all that, a lawyer must function at a very high level in terms of work product and communication skills. When an alreadychallenging professional lifestyle collides with a pandemic that results in a sudden and unplanned transition to remote work, zoom meetings, drive-by document signings, and clients in a state of panic, you have a recipe for testing the resilience of even the most resilient lawyer. I have dedicated a lifetime to fitness, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, coaching, and healthy living. My long-time mantra has been “never compromise a workout or healthy activity for work.” I found my resilience tested at an all-new level during the pandemic and since. In the first few weeks of the pandemic, despite my long-time mantra, I found myself struggling to find the time to engage in my long-time practices. My phone started to ring in the wee hours and continued all day, every day. I wanted to be able to take care of
Career Development & Wellness Columnist: Mary E. Vandenack, JD, ACTEC®, COLPM®, is the founding and managing member of Vandenack Weaver LLC in Omaha, Nebraska. Mary also has an advanced certificate of positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is a long-time Yoga RYTE.
everyone who called. There was so much suffering and so much concern. I asked all that I could of myself and those who worked with me to support clients trying to find their way through the pandemic. On top of the legal demands, my home life faced challenges. I focused my energy on the pandemic, and I was susceptible to personal attacks. By the end of week four of the pandemic, I was tired, cranky, and irritable. My shoulders hurt. My neck hurt. And I was becoming short with those who were trying to support me. I recall being on the phone one day with someone I value and catching myself noticeably impatient. I recognized that the pandemic stress was getting to me. For me, years of work on resilience paid off. I was able to see what was going on. I made a conscious decision to stop, breathe, and find a way to engage in the practices that had created resilience in my life. While the pandemic brought the need for resilience front and center, the fact is that being a lawyer, a partner, a parent, a friend, a family member, and a member of the community requires resilience even in times that don’t involve a pandemic. This article intends to provide a working definition of resilience and some practices that you can engage in to improve resilience. What Is Resilience? Resilience involves the ability to overcome negative emotional experiences and difficult life experiences by adapting to the changing demands of stressful experiences. A resilient person can meet life’s challenges regardless of significant demands made. A resilient person bounces back from adversity. A resilient person also grows from challenges. The good news is that anyone can develop resilience. Resilient People Have Strong Relationships Nurture relationships. Supportive and positive relationships matter, especially when you are going through a difficult time. Those who have resilience have invested in building relationships with those capable of supporting them through life challenges. When life is challenging, it is imperative to surround yourself with those who love you as you are at that moment. It is really easy to let the legal profession’s demands get in the way of building relationships.
Published in Probate & Property, Volume 36, No 2 © 2022 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
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March/April 2022
