series of bad decisions.

Have you ever felt like you've been making a series of bad decisions?

E.g. going "aiyahhh" after you end a call with someone, or "aiyohhh" in the car after you decide to leave Place A for Place B?

I feel like I've been making a series of bad decisions, or at least less-than-ideal decisions.

Went "aiyahhh" after getting off the phone with another lawyer twice today.

Sometimes I ask myself, "When will this learning end?"

I want to be a real professional, a problem-solver, someone who feels like she makes the right decisions all the time.

We talked about this last Friday at Young Adults CG - about what it must have been like for Adam and Eve before the Fall. 

They were completely secure - they knew what they had been created for, no scrambling around in the dark trying to discover their purpose in life.

They were certainly significant - they knew what they meant to God, and they knew what God meant to them. No need to try to be somebody or something in life, because they were already everything to God and to each other.

They were utterly accepted - no need to try to gain anybody's acceptance because they were already accepted by God and each other.

No need to "learn from mistakes" or "grow in character", because God provided all that they needed and assured them of all that they were.

We lost everything after the Fall. We became creatures constantly seeking a sense of security, significance, acceptance. 

Look at your own life, and you'll know it's true. 

Only in Christ can we find true freedom, because only in Christ is everything restored. 

I am secure - I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me (1 John 5:18).

I am significant - I am God’s workmanship, created for good works (Ephesians 2:10). I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Philippians 4:13)

I am accepted - I am God’s child (John 1:12). I am Christ’s friend (John 15:15).

I am 
COMPLETE 
in Christ. 
(Colossians 2:10)

absence of courtesy and common sense.

What People Think I Do

Me: "Hi. Can I speak to the lawyer in charge of (ref number), please?"

X: "Ok, please hold on."

What I Actually Do

Me: "Hi. Can I speak to the lawyer in charge of (ref number), please?"

X: "Oh, this case eh. What is it about?"

Me: "I need to clarify certain things about the Draft Index of the Bundle of Documents."

X: "Ok, when do you want the Draft Index?"

Me: "I already have the Draft Index. I need to clarify certain items in the Draft."

X: "Ok, what do you want to clarify?"

Me: "I have certain things I need to clarify with the lawyer in charge. Please pass the call to the lawyer."

X: "Oh, the lawyer in charge is on leave."

What X did that was so utterly wrong

1. Zero courtesy. 

As a matter of courtesy, a lawyer attends to another lawyer at the earliest opportunity. If you're not a lawyer, and a lawyer on the other end of the line specifically asks for a lawyer, you either pass the call to one or tell them that lawyer is unavailable as soon as possible. 

2. Zero sense of responsibility. 

If you are a clerk / pupil / student, and even if you know about the file, ask yourself:-

(a) If you misrepresent the lawyer in charge, and I act on that misrepresentation, who takes the fall? You or the lawyer?

(b) Whose client is it? Yours or the lawyer's?

(c) Who will the client sue for misrepresentation and negligence? You or the lawyer?

3. Zero common sense.  

A person calls (A), and asks for Y. 

X answers the call and insists on answering queries A specifically said were meant for Y.

X realizes at the end of the day that X cannot answer A's queries and says X will ask another lawyer about it and get the lawyer to call me back.

W-A-S-T-I-N-G-T-I-M-E.