Yoga Too Controversial For Public Schools?

I gave each of my staff a white rose today and taught them a meditation exercise that I had read about in a book I am reading. The book called "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari," chronicles the life of a very successful trial attorney who has a heart attack in the middle of a trial and changes his life. The lawyer sells off all of his worldly belongings and spends years living among the monks adopting their spiritual lifestyle and vowing to spread it among his many acquaintances in order to improve the lifestyles of humanity.
The book outlines certain exercises that the lawyer turned monk teaches his former co-worker to help him train his mind and improve his life. One of these exercises is called the Heart of the Rose. It involves a daily meditation of a rose to the exclusion of all other thoughts in the mind. The exercise is one that is to be increased in duration daily to train the mind to focus on only one thing at a time.
Well, I brought a rose into each one of my ladies today and they politely listened as I read them the passage from the book and managed not to snicker or call me crazy. They graciously accepted the rose and left my office vowing to begin changing their lives! Yes, madame!
Then while was reading the news headlines, I found a whole controversy about Yoga in the public schools and that it was introduced to calm the children prior to standardized tests, but that certain secular groups and parents were opposed to the hindu roots of Yoga and felt it had a religious connotation! What???
Yup, so Yoga was sanitized, and not called Yoga, the chants were not chants, they were sayings; the meditation was not called mediation but deep thinking, and the kids are now able to do this in gym.
Just when I thought I had the whole PC thing figured out, I am told that calming ones spirit may interfere with their individual right of freedom of religious expression!!! Ok...stay stressed...die young...Me? I'm trying to get into my Zen zone, feel free to join me.

Yoga Too Controversial For Public Schools?

I gave each of my staff a white rose today and taught them a meditation exercise that I had read about in a book I am reading. The book called "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari," chronicles the life of a very successful trial attorney who has a heart attack in the middle of a trial and changes his life. The lawyer sells off all of his worldly belongings and spends years living among the monks adopting their spiritual lifestyle and vowing to spread it among his many acquaintances in order to improve the lifestyles of humanity.
The book outlines certain exercises that the lawyer turned monk teaches his former co-worker to help him train his mind and improve his life. One of these exercises is called the Heart of the Rose. It involves a daily meditation of a rose to the exclusion of all other thoughts in the mind. The exercise is one that is to be increased in duration daily to train the mind to focus on only one thing at a time.
Well, I brought a rose into each one of my ladies today and they politely listened as I read them the passage from the book and managed not to snicker or call me crazy. They graciously accepted the rose and left my office vowing to begin changing their lives! Yes, madame!
Then while was reading the news headlines, I found a whole controversy about Yoga in the public schools and that it was introduced to calm the children prior to standardized tests, but that certain secular groups and parents were opposed to the hindu roots of Yoga and felt it had a religious connotation! What???
Yup, so Yoga was sanitized, and not called Yoga, the chants were not chants, they were sayings; the meditation was not called mediation but deep thinking, and the kids are now able to do this in gym.
Just when I thought I had the whole PC thing figured out, I am told that calming ones spirit may interfere with their individual right of freedom of religious expression!!! Ok...stay stressed...die young...Me? I'm trying to get into my Zen zone, feel free to join me.

Circle City Fans

The Circle City is going bonkers this week over its biggest Colts game EVER in the Dome. This is the first time Indy has hosted the AFC Championship game; plus Tom Brady and the hated Patriots are coming to town. It would be amazing to send them back to Beantown, beaten by an Adam Vinatieri last second FG set up by a dramatic Peyton Manning led drive in the final 2 minutes. I am obviously expecting it to be a close game, but I think there will be a decent amount of scoring--both teams in the 30's. I think it's hilarious to listen to the responses of the jackasses on the street here when they get asked dumbass questions like "Who is going to win this weekend?", "What's the final score going to be?", or "How 'bout that Colts D?"on the local TV stations. Are we expecting any suprise answers here? The sad thing is, most of the people actually pause to think about it as if they are some great prognosticator processing algorithms on the fly to compute the answer to the question. It's almost as painful to watch as the local news coverage every year on Tax Day. (Reporter: "Why did you wait until tonight to get your tax return postmarked?" Indiana Resident: "You know, I just got busy and forgot about it." Really? Is your life that busy?) Anyway... The latest stink around here was the Colts supposedly misleading the fans about ticket sales. Really? Misleading? Do we really have that many stupid people here? I had the local news on in the background while I was brushing my teeth & getting ready for bed the night before the tickets went on sale, and somehow I managed to comprehend how that whole process was going to work out, even though I had no vested interest in purchasing tickets for myself. There were some morons who showed up at the Dome at 4 AM that morning, even though it was clearly stated that it was NOT a first come first serve system. You have all these people so excited about the possibility of going to the Super Bowl, yet most couldn't tell you the name of the Colts punt returner. (Terrence Wilkins is the correct answer, by the way) Don't get me wrong, I think it' great to see a city/state/region so excited & forming a common bond over the Colts, (everybody wear blue, hang up a Colts flag, put a decal on the car, etc) but it pisses me off when I hear the casual fans bitch about not being able to get tickets for the game. And of course the local news outlets show the video clips of the most hilljacked people getting philosophical and saying dumb shit like "the Colts misled us, and this whole process was a joke, we drove 2 hours to get here at 5 AM, but I still love the Colts & bleed blue til the day I die, GO COLTS!" The best was 2 douchebag twin-looking guys in Colts blue suits & painted faces leading cheers to the people waiting for the ticket window to open. Thank goodness our local news broadcasts are not available for people to see in other cities, because it would give those eastcoast snob fans even more ammo to make fun of us in the midwest! It's bad enough that they raid the Indystar website for anything in print that they can scrape up on us & then make fun of it--but now the Indystar website has added a multimedia component with video clips. Thank you Indystar for posting clips of people who epitomize exactly what outsiders already think about all of us. I kind of feel bad for the hardcore fans that missed out on game tickets & are forced to deal with online ticket brokers--but if they were really hardcore fans then they would be season ticket holders and it wouldn't be a problem now. I've heard some of these die-hard fans say they are willing to pay up to $700 for a decent ticket. I really hope these people learn their lesson and get on the list for season tickets next year. It's always good to support the home team and encourage local economic growth. Afterall, we have a new stadium to pay for! Sadly, the same people willing to pay $700 for a ticket this weekend are probably maxed out on their credit cards, behind on their rent/mortgage payments, and have state minimum auto insurance coverage. I wish that group of people would just be content to tailgate at the Dome & then go home & watch the game on their big screen HD plasma TV that I am sure they bought just for moments like this anyway. Personally, I will be in my own house, drinking my own ice cold beer in my frosted Colts mug, and enjoying the game with full surround sound experience on my own couch.

How do you know when it is time to settle?

Most lawyers worth their salt can get a feel for a case and instinctively know when they have gone as far as possible. At this juncture the lawyer will counsel her client that it is time to settle. This conversation with the client can sometimes be a very difficult matter. Most clients harbor anger and resentment toward their soon to be ex spouse and the general consensus is that they want to see them suffer. Suffering however, works both ways. Most clients fail to realize that the pursuant of the "impossible dream" of justice for the righteous is very costly. Clients are quick to chastise their attorney for over billing but will generally give that same attorney a difficult time on the road to settlement but placing high if not impossible expectations on their matter. Cutting the best deal you can as quickly as possible and bailing out of the legal system is always the best approach. There comes a time when one has to let go of the fight and begin to live their lives. The client who deins to say that I am running from a fight is unrealistic at best and delusional at worst. I make my money by prolonging litigation in that I work hourly. However, I do not like to make my money that way. Prolonged litigation does not benefit the client at all in my opinion. Where is the justice? I am constantly asked, to which I respond: How much justice can you afford? This is not a light quip I toss out. I never recommend settlement if I do not feel I have cut a good deal for the client. So what happens when I recommend that we have come to the end of the line? Well when I am working for a woman, usually I get yelled at and told that I do not understand how difficult life will be for her under the terms I have negotiated. Of course I know, I was a single mother once myself, almost losing my home. I didn't always own my own lawfirm and I didn't always make a good living. When I represent a man, I usually hear that I must have a soft spot for women and children being a woman myself. The attorney never wins here. Even when I cut what I consider the "deal of the century" the client is not happy. I wonder are they ever? Not on my watch.

How do you know when it is time to settle?

Most lawyers worth their salt can get a feel for a case and instinctively know when they have gone as far as possible. At this juncture the lawyer will counsel her client that it is time to settle. This conversation with the client can sometimes be a very difficult matter. Most clients harbor anger and resentment toward their soon to be ex spouse and the general consensus is that they want to see them suffer. Suffering however, works both ways. Most clients fail to realize that the pursuant of the "impossible dream" of justice for the righteous is very costly. Clients are quick to chastise their attorney for over billing but will generally give that same attorney a difficult time on the road to settlement but placing high if not impossible expectations on their matter. Cutting the best deal you can as quickly as possible and bailing out of the legal system is always the best approach. There comes a time when one has to let go of the fight and begin to live their lives. The client who deins to say that I am running from a fight is unrealistic at best and delusional at worst. I make my money by prolonging litigation in that I work hourly. However, I do not like to make my money that way. Prolonged litigation does not benefit the client at all in my opinion. Where is the justice? I am constantly asked, to which I respond: How much justice can you afford? This is not a light quip I toss out. I never recommend settlement if I do not feel I have cut a good deal for the client. So what happens when I recommend that we have come to the end of the line? Well when I am working for a woman, usually I get yelled at and told that I do not understand how difficult life will be for her under the terms I have negotiated. Of course I know, I was a single mother once myself, almost losing my home. I didn't always own my own lawfirm and I didn't always make a good living. When I represent a man, I usually hear that I must have a soft spot for women and children being a woman myself. The attorney never wins here. Even when I cut what I consider the "deal of the century" the client is not happy. I wonder are they ever? Not on my watch.