Being a Testimony for Others

Hey there you beautiful, awesome, magical being!  I hope that you are having an amazing day, an amazing week, and an amazing month. 

Let’s talk about being a testimony for others.  Did you know that we sometimes go through things in life to be able to help someone else in the future?  Many of our experiences in life prepare us to be a testimony for others to let them know that if we can do it, they too can do it.  Or, to let them know that if we can get through it, they too, can get through it.  Let’s take a journey back to my first semester of law school. 

I took a number of years off between the time I graduated from college and went to law school.  While I did not know exactly what to expect during my first semester, I did not expect to feel so anxious and overwhelmed.  A little anxious at starting something new, yes.  I totally expected that.  But the overwhelming anxiousness that I experienced completely caught me by surprise. 

I have always been a good student, doing extremely well in school, and have a genuine love of learning.  When this anxiety reared its ugly head and threatened to take over my life during my first semester of law school, I was not prepared for any of that.  There I was, a first semester law student, trying my best to keep up with the massive amounts of reading and studying, and to of course attempt to understand what I read.

As if my nerves were not already amped up as I started my first semester, my Civil Procedures Professor had the nerve to call on me the very first day.  But, here’s the kicker.  He did not simply ask me one question and move on.  He stayed on me for about thirty minutes, asking me to analyze this, analyze that, and on and on.  Now of course the eyes of EVERYONE in the classroom were staring at me, which did not help my anxiety at all.  In my mind, I was thinking that we would go around the room and introduce ourselves; perhaps talk about why we wanted to be a lawyer.  However, the reality is that this was not high school or even college, but law school.

Ultimately, I came to learn that this method of professors trying to break you down into a ball of sweat and tears, was known as the Socratic Method.  As the semester progressed, I became increasingly overwhelmed, started doubting myself, wondering if I had made a mistake in attending law school. 

One day, while visiting my parents, I had a complete breakdown.  I was crying that ugly cry, and in between my tears I uttered how overwhelmed I was, and how I did not think that I was smart enough.  I was doing the ultimate taboo; speaking negativity over myself.  That is never cool.  Not surprisingly however, my parents spoke life and positivity into me.  They told me that I could do anything that I set out to do, and that I needed to realize just how smart I was.  After much snot, more tears, and now puffier eyes, I eventually got myself together, pushed through, graduated with honors and passed two bar exams.  Yay me!

During my second year of law school however, as I started getting into the groove of things, being much less overwhelmed, I met a young lady who was in her first year.  I saw her in the library sitting at a desk in the corner on the verge of tears.  I walked over to her and asked if she was ok. Through her tears she expressed how overwhelmed she was, and that she was considering dropping out of law school.  It was like déjà vu.  This was everything that I had expressed the year prior.  It was eerily similar, but I was able to speak to her as someone who understood exactly what she was going through from experience.  I told her that it would get better, and to believe in herself, and invited her to talk to me anytime. 

Fast forward, this young woman has since graduated, passed the bar exam, and is now the owner of her own award-winning law firm.  She is pretty amazing!  I firmly believe that I had my experience to be able to speak life into her when she went through the same experience. 

When you are going down a certain path, speaking with someone that has gone down that same path is sometimes the most helpful and insightful person to speak with because they truly understand what you are going through both positive and negative.  So go ahead and encourage someone today.  You never know who you may positively impact, or when you might need those words of encouragement yourself.