Take "Time" Out of the Equation

What do you do when two of your friends are angry with each other- and you're caught in the middle. I think everyone goes through this repeatedly at various stages in life, so it's good to have some tools for dealing with this. I personally have found the following helpful when dealing with this: - talk to both sides separately, and let both sides know that you are talking to the other - try to get to the core of their issues and abstract the problem - come up with possible solutions/compromises - when they do talk, try to make sure each is on an equal playing field, and call them out on unnecessary jabs and insults - make sure each gets out ALL of the things they are upset about, or it will just build up again

Happy Thursday! I came across this article and thought it was great because it touches on many challenges leading to stress that lawyers face, and trends that many of us face as we are developing/maintaining our careers. This article explores ways to continue working towards your professional goals, with reminders that these goals are not the only measurements of success. Talking about our wellness and mental health in our professions is so important for our well-being, to increase awareness, and to validate that we are not alone in theses experiences/feelings. https://abovethelaw.com/2019/07/a-reckoning-for-mental-health-in-the-legal-profession/

Often times, I start conversations with people by asking a simple question: " how's your mental health? ". A year ago, people thought it was a weird question. Now when I ask, people smile. I don't know what's changed, but it seems like it's becoming more acceptable and that's awesome. Recently, someone asked me how I respond to that question. And my answer is some days I feel like a bird and sometimes I feel like a statue. Sometimes both. When I'm a bird, I have good mental health that day. When I'm a statue, that just means I've been getting shit on and/or I feel like shit. And there are days, where I feel like both. So ya. Yesterday, I was a statue. Today, I'm a bird. That's life I guess. That being said, I wish you all great mental health. May we all work on our mental health and strive to be a bird everyday.