Travis Atkins, District IV Director
I just returned from vacation in Canada, and wow, the summer weather was perfect! It made us repeatedly ask, ‘Why don’t we live here?’ and ‘Why do we live where it’s blazing hot eight months of the year?’
Life takes us to unexpected places. My spouse received a job offer in Mobile right after college, and years later, I attended reporting school. After a successful freelance career, I now have a rewarding position and am even looking toward retirement. I never imagined I’d be here 31 years ago, but Mobile has become my home, with a fulfilling job, great friends, and even closer ones I consider family.
This reflection leads me to ask: Why do I make certain choices in my life? Why don’t I simplify my life by learning new writing techniques? I may not be able to spend summers in Canada—my judge made that quite clear—but I can make small changes that add up.
For example, about five years ago, I finally changed my brief for ‘mansion’ to ‘manslaughter.’ How many times have I needed ‘mansion’ in a transcript? Zero. How often do I need ‘manslaughter’? Practically every day. I wasted so many strokes on that one!
Now, I’m committing to learning at least one new brief each week. It may not seem like much, but you have to start somewhere. My Luminex, now three and a half years old, just congratulated me on my multi-millionth stroke (I won’t reveal the exact number!). That feels less like congratulations and more like a ‘good grief, work on some briefs’ warning.
Maybe you can choose one thing to simplify your life as well. Start small, avoid overwhelm, and make it happen.
