Have You Updated Your Membership Profile with HCBA ?
PrioritizingSeLfcare
Marital & Family law Section Chair : AndrewD . Reder , B . C . S . — SessumsBlack , P . A . wewanttomakea differenceinourclients ’ livesandchampiontheir causesbutwithouttheright fuelweendupburnedout .
It is a daily occurrence in our profession . Our office phone rings with emergencies and fires that need putting out Monday morning and you haven ’ t even poured yourself a cup of coffee . A few minutes turns to hours , lunch is missed and you are running on empty at 3 pm . We want to make a difference in our clients ’ lives and champion their causes , but without the right fuel , we end up burned out .
There is a reason when we board a plane that during the safety check we are advised to place our own oxygen mask on first before helping others . When we find ways to help ourselves , we find balance in our career and help our clients achieve the impossible for themselves .
Earlier in my career , I used to dismiss the idea of self-care . That is until life forced me to deal with it head on . At 37 years old , I suffered a heart attack in the middle of a trial . I had pushed off thinking
about myself to get through everything so much that my body just shut down . It was a revelation for me , and a wake-up call that things needed to change immediately . Because I practice family law , I realized that for me to thrive I needed to carve more time for the activities that make me happy and also do a deep dive in my business to see what best practices I could implement to ease the stress I was dealing with . As a family law attorney , a majority of my clients have experienced trauma , and I wanted to add tools to my own toolbox to help protect myself from secondary trauma and preserve my own physical and mental health .
The real question we have to ask ourselves is : what kind of self-care should we focus on ? There are so many aspects that we can work on that it can be overwhelming . As a starting point , we can step back and look at our greatest stressors , the pain points that make each day
tougher , and prioritize ways to remove or lessen them so that we can thrive . Our long-term health is important , so make that doctor ’ s appointment I know you are putting off because you think you have time later . Find an activity or hobby that makes you happy and carve out time to enjoy it . Look for ways to help yourself achieve peace and calmness . Whether it is taking time to meditate to quiet your mind or sitting down with a therapist to talk through the stressors in life , these steps put you on a path to prioritizing self-care , and in turn being the best version of yourself for your clients and family . n
Author : Cynthia Hernandez – Hernandez FamilyLaw & Mediation
Have You Updated Your Membership Profile with HCBA ?
Start the new year off right and make sure your information is correct with the HCBA . Log into your member profile at hillsbar . com and make any needed updates . It ' s that easy !
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