A story about adaptability & creativity, in a crisis:

Many yrs ago, I had a brutal fight on my hands. An ex, determined to cut me out of my childrens’ lives, & bankrupt me in the process.

He had a wealthy backer, in his father, & a veteran lawyer who played dirty ⬇️
I had no money (bc he had it all), & worked 2 jobs just to afford the costs of setting up a new home for us & our 6 children.

My Hubs had a good job, but was paying half his salary in child support & all his assets tied up in his own fight w/his ex ⬇️
I could not afford to lose this fight, but I couldn’t afford a lawyer to help me. I had to do it myself, but also couldn’t afford to screw it up.

They tell you the rules are all very straightforward & publicly available, but they lie. Legal texts are torturous.⬇️
What I am good at, is learning fast.

I didn’t have time to go to law school.

Instead, I spent 4 months to take an online course to certify in law clerking, thru a local college. It cost me $685, & taught me all the procedures I needed to know. The arguing, I already had down ⬇️
I used those texts & procedures, & took it all the way thru a 5 day trial, & won.

The judge who presided said I was more prepared & eloquent than many of the lawyers who came thru his courtroom.

I felt pretty good about that.

I owe that success to those 2 important skills ⬇️
Adaptability & creativity.

I could have given up, & lost everything that was important to me.

I could have fumbled thru on what I could piece together from research, & prayed I didn’t miss something important, or get a judge who wasn’t patient with self-reps.⬇️
I could’ve panicked & froze, & let the chips fall where they may.

But I didn’t.

I thought it thru, found a doable solution that empowered me somewhat, & equipped me adequately for the fight ahead.

I had to dig. It was no easy task to fit that around 2 jobs, but I did it ⬇️
It was a creative solution, that proved effective. It has saved me & my family, many times since, in the many subsequent battles.

It has given me enough confidence to stop me from panicking, every time a new fight looms. That alone, is worth every ounce of sweat i put in ⬇️
That is the reason why, when others are panicking about what is next in these uncertain times, I am not.

Am I worried? Yes. Who wouldn’t be?

But whatever it is, I am confident I will be able to come up w/creative solutions to adapt, whatever may come.

Knowledge really is power
You can follow @OpheliaMaddsen.
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