A little more than a month ago, I strolled into work after more that 6 weeks off. I took time off to study for the bar, take the bar, drink a lot of beer, take a vacation, and drink more beer.
The first week back to work, a colleague noted, “you seem mighty subdued.” My subdued approach to work lasted for all of about the remainder of that week. Then, I begin to slip into the overwork-a-holic routine that I most commonly identify as my nature.
Since returning, I find myself doing things that I would wager few of my law school classmates are doing. Within the first week, I negotiated a settlement for a pending lawsuit. I have counseled employees, decision makers, and even one husband and wife (not sure how to qualify that one in my job title). I have accomplished a number of tasks that I feel absolutely unqualified to attempt. Somehow I believe (possibly naively) that this is seasoning.
No one is naturally good at making hard decisions that affect people’s lives. We learn this balance that informs these decisions not in a classroom, but by daily being in the position of making decisions. Sometimes I make terrible decisions and get “beat up” for them, and other days I make good decisions for which I am rewarded. I hope with the addition of the new category “seasoning” to talk about some of the things that I learn along the way.
