Where Are You?

• Author: David V. Lorenzo
• Pages: 1-2

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WHERE ARE YOU ?

Where are you right now, in your career and in your life?

Are you where you thought you would be?

Does your law practice, your business, enhance your life or detract from it?

One cold winter morning about ten years ago, I was not focused on those three questions. I was

not focused on anything. I was flat on my back, strapped to a wooden board on a gurney. I stared

at the ceiling, counting the tiles that passed by as the paramedics and doctor pushed me faster and

faster down a seemingly endless hallway. Everything below my shoulders was numb.

My mind was making up for the lack of motion in my body. It was racing with blistering

speed. I was not thinking about all the things I would not be able to do if the feeling did not return.

I was thinking about my priorities. I was thinking specifically about all the family things, all the

life things I had put off because I thought my work and my life could not coexist.

It is amazing how your life can change in a split second.

Earlier that morning I made a choice to drop off a file at a client’s office instead of meeting my

wife for lunch. I could have sent a messenger with the file. I could have emailed the documents.

I could have done several different things, but the client demanded I bring the file personally so

he could review the work and give me immediate feedback.

I walked at a brisk pace as I stepped off the curb with the rest of the pedestrians crossing

with the light, in the crosswalk. I was not on my mobile phone. I was not distracted. I was think-

ing about crossing the street.

When the Yellow Cab hit me time stood still. I could see the horror on the faces of the other

pedestrians as I flew 24 feet 7 inches and hit the ground with a sickening thud. I remember hearing

the commotion as a group of Good Samaritans chased down the cab driver and pulled him out of

the cab. I also remember the kind woman who asked me if she could call someone as they loaded

me into the ambulance.

Back in the hospital my focus changed when the ceiling tiles gave way to a long metal tube

into which I was carefully loaded by six hospital staffers. The only thing louder than the annoying