Attorney Flip's Sage Wisdom

When the Late Attorney Jon passed away, I had a chance to meet Attorney Flip (and Legal Owl), who had been assigned by the BAR to close Jon's files. That experience you can also read about in the archives of this blog. But what I wanted to mention was something Flip said to me two years ago when I went to Birmingham. It made all the difference in the world and got me going on this path I am on today.

The day before I met with Flip and Legal Owl, I had just spent a great deal of time looking at my completely trashed and unrepairable home in the mountains. This was the home with the wrap-around porch, two acres and the pond in the back. It was my favorite home and the one I hoped to someday retire to. Seeing it, without windows, doors and ceilings greatly affected me. In a quick calculation, I figured there was at least $40,000 worth of damage, and I knew insurance wouldn't cover all of it. In my mind, the damage was personal. How dare someone not love this house! So, you can imagine how beaten down I felt.

Anyway, I was meeting with Legal Owl, and in walks Flip, to say hello. Legal Owl filled in the gory (gory, I tell you!) details about this house. And Flip walked over to me, sat down and looked me in the eye.

He stated gently and tactfully,  "C.S. Lewis said, 'Pride is the greatest of sins. All other sins stem from it'. Everyone knows the condition you and your business are in, you aren't hiding it." Flip said it in such a loving and kind way and it stuck in my head.

I think of this now and then, especially when I start getting angry of the way things should have been. "Should have" is never the same as "are". Attorney Jon should have lived. I should have never met Flip. My home with the wrap-around porch in the mountains should have been loved. There are so many other shoulds. If all my shoulds had happened, I wouldn't have heard Flip's words, which changed the direction of my accidental business and my life.