THE HOLISTIC LAWYER

Do you sometimes have trouble sleeping? There is a lot these days to disturb our peace. Hurricane Katrina and its frightening aftermath, gas prices soaring to outrageous levels, not to mention our own personal dramas, can all serve to keep us on edge.

Some of these things we can change and many, we can’t. So what do we do when stressors keep us up and counting sheep won’t help?

I recommend focusing on something we want more of. What we put our attention on increases and what we take our attention away from withers and dies. We need to take the power of our attention very seriously.

Rather than stressing out about our “what if” worries, let’s be powerful and create more of what we want, like love. We can bring more of it into our lives just by focusing on the love that we already have. This leaves us feeling not only peaceful but abundant as well, which makes us feel more at peace.

For example, take a moment to focus on the friends you have. Whenever I do this and really take time to savor the many wonderful qualities of my friends, I get a warm glowing feeling in my heart center that fills me with joy.

Like my friend Margaret. Margaret and I met as adversaries in a divorce case. You might think we’d be enemies but instead we became good friends. Margaret is very successful and as smart as they come, yet she is so down-to-earth, full of humor and has a heart as big as the ocean. Margaret and I have gone camping, kayaking and horse-back riding together. She has also been there for me through some challenging times, but mostly we just have fun.

Margaret introduced me to my new favorite way of working out, Bikram Yoga (in Farmington Hills and Plymouth). Bikram Yoga is Hatha yoga that is done in a hot (110-120 degree) room for 90 minutes. Although I’ve been a dedicated fitness enthusiast all my life, I’ve never done anything as tough as Bikram Yoga. When I came to my first class I wondered, “Why is Margaret trying to kill me?”

But it was so hard I decided it must be good for me, so I stayed. Now we often go to class together and have dinner afterwards. It helps us feel great!

Once I injured myself in class and called Margaret up at 6:30 am, asking her to stand in on a case for me in two hours. After hearing my tearful voice she was alarmed, but agreed to help and even stopped by later to see how I was. She called me every day to check on me until I recovered. Now that is a friend!

Another friend of mine, Jessica, is also a family law attorney. Although we both live in Michigan we really got to know each other in India, when we went on a trip with our mutual friend Lalitha. Jessica and I walked down the beach by the Indian Ocean in some unspeakably strange surroundings, talking our heads off in the pouring rain.

Since then we’ve done Tai Bo together, shared our interest in spiritual things and even spent a weekend in silence at her cottage in Canada, where she helped me with ideas for a book I am writing. We support each other’s dreams, cheer each other’s successes and share our sorrows. She is about to become a new mother and I couldn’t be happier for her. Her baby will be surrounded with love.

Then there is my buddy, Dave. Dave is a detective with many years’ experience who shares my interest in spiritual things and is a dedicated Course in Miracles student. In the summer, I hung out with Dave on his pontoon boat and he drove us around Cass Lake, admiring the beautiful homes. Like my other friends, Dave doesn’t hesitate to lovingly tell me when he thinks I’ve gotten off-track and like my other friends, I do the same for him. Dave and I have worked on some very interesting cases together and in fact he is the one who suggested I send my articles to phenomeNEWS.

Speaking of phenomeNEWS, one could hardly find a more positive and loving group of people. In the years I have known them, especially Cindy and Gerri, I have seen their inner light shining through as they walk their talk of love and truth with everyone they meet. I am grateful for their kindness, love and support.

These are just a few of the faces in the rich tapestry of love that fills my life. How about yours?

When I was watching footage of the devastation caused by Katrina, I saw a rescue mission for two men who were stranded on the roof of a house submerged in water. A helicopter appeared in the sky, creating rippling circles in the water as it approached the roof. A rescue worker came down in a basket towards the men on the roof.

Suddenly a little terrier appeared. As one man climbed in the basket and waited to be taken aloft, the dog sat very close to him. Not climbing into the basket itself, the dog nevertheless sat with his back touching the man about to be saved. He didn’t bark, he didn’t bite, he didn’t run around in fear. Occasionally, he turned to lick the man’s back, as if to say, “Remember me!” And they did. When the second man was loaded into the basket, the dog was put in with him and the three were whisked to safety.

It was that little dog that helped me remember, when all around us seems to be crumbling, to keep my focus on love. Love is where the action is. Stay focused on love and you too can find peace in the eye of the storm.

© 2005 Mindy L. Hitchcock.
All Rights Reserved

Mindy L. Hitchcock is a family law attorney with 19 years experience. She is certified in collaborative law and the collaborative law team approach, a board member of the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers (IAHL), member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Michigan and a member of the Human Rights Campaign. She is a writer and speaker and maintains two websites, LADY4JUSTICE PLLC, www.lady4justice.com and Mindy’s Access Power Center, www.mindyhitchcock.com. She can be reached at mlhitchcock@lady4justice.com.