LEGAL LIFE MUSCLES

By Dr. Diane Abdo
          The Life Muscle of peacefulness through all situations is a powerful balancing act. We can better maintain balance in life when we have built the proper infrastructure, or the proper “muscles”, to navigate rough terrain.
          My intention in this article is to inspire you, the reader, to become aware of, and develop, the internal mechanisms that allow you to experience a sense of peace as you navigate your personal and professional lives. 
Some stressful factors frequently experienced working in Law include:

• Dealing with high conflict people
• Dealing with difficult people (angry, overly-emotional, agenda-driven, impulsive, unreasonable, aggressive, etc.)
• Dealing with others’ emotions
• Dealing with the aggression and rage of others
• Dealing with your own emotions in any encounter
• Having no true control over results/courts, and
• Dealing with time restrictions, intense demands or deadlines.

     The stress response starts with a thought.  A close relationship exists between our thoughts, our emotions, and our physiological reactions.  The process goes as follows:
    Thoughts influence emotions and then emotions influence physiological reactions. 
Thoughts, emotions, and our physiological reactions to our emotions are habits that we can consciously design.  They are building blocks of a conscious and peaceful life.
Bringing attention and intention to our inner world provides us the opportunity to actively design the nature and quality of our inner experience which influences our sense of peace.
            Life Muscles are attitudes, philosophies, and mental and behavioral habits that one purposely designs and develops.  These habits reflect an approach to life that is grounded, focused and intentional.  Life Muscles are a personal system of guidance that buffers you from the negative effects of stress.
       When developed into habits, the following concepts (or Life Muscles), will provide strength to more effectively navigate stress in your life and your work.  When most effective, these Life Muscles become your internal “go-to” centering points.
         I believe that an essential Life Muscle in living peacefully is staying in The Zone.  The Zone is a state of ongoing awareness and creation of balance.  When in The Zone, choose the perspective that provides positive emotions and support a positive physical response.  In that flow with inner experiences, if we choose to use the positive habits we’ve developed , we can create an available option of peacefulness.  From this peaceful place, we have greater mental clarity to choose actions and navigate our lives.
          Living in The Zone involves the process of utilizing Mind-Emotion-Body based internal cues and information to arrive at understanding, strength, coping and thriving. This concept (or Life Muscle) involves “Mind Control” which is the proactive process of consciously choosing healthy and optimal thought patterns that lead to a sense of mastery and peace.
Some examples of Life Muscles associated with “Mind Control” are:

• Intentionally choosing to drive your bus.
• Recognizing the powerful energy of your thoughts and words and using that information to guide your behavior.
• Consciously shifting perspective in order to understand various angles of a situation with ease and without bias or reactivity.
• Evaluating vs. Judging.  Evaluating involves neutral energy (observation) and is freeing; whereas, judging involves negative energy and is limiting. 
• Monitoring personal emotional patterns and having the fore-thought and wisdom to address them at appropriate times.
• Intentionally designing who and how you are in every interaction.
• Disconnecting from any thought or expectation that another person should change in any way for you to thrive.
• Remaining in the “Curious Observer” perspective during stressful or conflictual situations.  This perspective provides you helpful distance from which to view events, as well as a buffer from emotional energy attached to the event.
• Bringing your attention to your intention, so that, in highly stressful situations you can observe the chaos around you as you move beyond it, and
• Commit to being responsive vs. reactive.  A composed and focused approach is more powerful than an angry and aggressive posture.

         Within your professional role, you have tremendous pressure to succeed and compete.  I suggest to you that who you are is not an attorney.  An attorney does not walk into the room when you arrive at your destination.
You are a person, with many distinguished qualities, who chooses to express certain ideals and philosophies through your chosen line of work. 
        You are a human being who is committed to contributing in a positive way to the lives of others.  You have chosen a professional path from which to serve the greater good.
         Be on that path---intentionally.  Be awake and mainly focused on who and how you are in each encounter on that path. 
With this focus and intention, you can maintain healthy boundaries in relation to stress, negativity, others’ behavior and attitudes, and any external circumstances.
       In conclusion, I hope you can see that you can navigate your life with greater focus and purpose by:

• Developing a relationship with your inner world,
• Choosing peacefulness as empowerment, and
• Consciously developing positive and productive Life Muscles.

     Through a healthy relationship with your mind, emotions and body, you can create a healthy relationship with your life.