Stayin' Alive ... I Mean, Awake

I met with an attorney last week to discuss some of the emerging legal intricacies Fabulous Shoe Night has presented. By the end of our 90+ minutes together, I felt like my head had been put through a sausage maker. While I was on LSD. And Nyquil. At one point, I noticed my hands hurt, and looked down at them to figure out why.  I realized I was clutching the edges of the table, my knuckles white from pressure and exertion. It became clear to me that I was gripping the table in an effort to stay present, mentally.  To pay attention to something I didn't understand most of, and not tune out like I usually do when someone is discussing what I consider to be the mundane. I need to know, and understand, what is going on, yet I feel I am at a huge disadvantage. I am not a lawyer, nor did I go to business school. It is not a good feeling to realize that you understand approximately half of what someone is saying to you. Not a good feeling at all …

To make matters worse, I went home, and my (attorney) husband asked how the meeting went. I relayed all I could, which was not much. Clearly, the two lawyers will need to exchange emails or phone calls to bring him up to date. In the past, this was the point where I would mentally check out, and let someone else handle all the "boring stuff." It's so much easier to stay safely in the confines of your comfort zones … but this time, I vow not to. Pushing beyond self-imposed comfort zones is a little something we all need to experience, and it's called growth. It's not easy, it's not comfortable, and it is usually downright scary, but if we are ever to move forward …  in business, in life … it needs to be done.

So … it's time to put my (reading) glasses on, sharpen my pencil, hunker down and get to work … push past my comfort zones and learn something new, different, scary and, to me … boring. As I struggle to stay present and learn all this new, scary and boring stuff, I think of that famous quote about Ginger Rogers, doing everything Fred Astaire did, but backward … and in high heels. And then I think of the reaction some people have when they look down at my latest pair of fabulous, sky-high heels. Invariably, they ask,  "How on earth do you walk in those things??" My answer is always the same. Always. I smile, and say, "With attitude."