I know this is a web site about personal injury and auto claims. But, like most other people, my career is only one of my interests in life. I want to share thoughts, from time to time, about other issues that matter to me. Here goes:
One of the things I do when I am not helping clients is that I am a Scoutmaster. I am an Eagle Scout, and my three boys are all Eagles (my two girls weren’t scouts). I am not actually very interested in camping, although I take the Scouts camping every month and for a week in the summer. My interest in scouting lies in helping boys know that they can take on difficult challenges and succeed. The hard tasks of climbing a mountain, cooking over a fire, or just being away from Mom and video games for a week, teach these young men that they can also face the challenges of college, career, marriage and family (or whatever they may pursue). They learn that they can do hard things and reap the rewards of their labor.
In my work as a personal injury lawyer, I see people going through true hardship from injuries caused by careless drivers. I have seen clients that cave under the depression of having their lives so disrupted, and others who push through the challenge and refuse to give in. I know which results in a better life. I wonder what life experiences may have contributed to these different approaches to recovery from such setbacks.
I suppose that one of the reasons I take off the personal injury lawyer hat and put on the Scoutmaster hat, is that I hope the scouting experience will enable these boys to face the inevitable setbacks in their lives with a will to push through, and keep achieving a happy life.
I know it helped me.