Choosing Tomorrow
We influence tomorrow by making choices today.
Choosing one’s “tomorrow” is at the heart of our mediation philosophy.
While what we do can seem very legal and dry, the truth is, we see our role as workers’ comp mediators as much more than facilitators of the legal process. When we meet with people in the middle of a workers’ comp dispute, we’re meeting with real people in the middle of a very real set of circumstances in their very real lives.
For those of us who operate on the periphery of this industry rather than occupy the “hot seat” of injured worker or employer for whom this case is a near-daily presence and impact, it’s easy to keep an arm’s distance length from what they’re going through and what we’re doing.
This is why we do our best to lead with empathy and care,
taking the time to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine what it would be like to suddenly have your income drastically decreased or your quarterly budget significantly altered due to injury claims. It is from this perspective and understanding that we developed our approach to mediation: to empower others to choose their “tomorrow.”
It is, however, the same choice each of us makes every day, several times a day. My tomorrow and your tomorrow are each shaped not by random forces and factors beyond our control (although they can be if we let them) but instead by choices very much within our jurisdictions right now.
From choosing our outlooks and the stories we tell ourselves about the world around us, to choosing to wake up an hour earlier or stay up a few hours later, “tomorrow” can look different by the choices we make today.
It’s not just the fact that there is a choice that’s significant.
It’s the fact that it’s us who gets to make that choice. There is a saying that goes, “Everything that happens to you, you either create or allow,” and while there are, of course, many unfortunate circumstances in the world we have no hand in creating or allowing, there are also many circumstances in our own lives we have indeed created or allowed through the choices we’ve made.
Tomorrow is yours to create or allow.
What will it be?
What choices can you make today to make tomorrow the kind of life you want?