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Fierce Protectors of the Injured
DISCOVER THE POWER YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD Sensei Sevenish’s Advice for DealingWith Stress
Once I completed my two weeks of fasting, I flew out to Little Rock to see my master. My skin had turned a little bit yellow. I was tired and hungry. So, when I sat down in a chair in front of his desk, I must’ve been slumping. “Sit up straight!” he shouted angrily.
T o become a taekwondo master, my teacher wouldn’t only test my technical skills. He gave me a test I never expected: “I want you to fast for two weeks.” “Eat nothing,” he told me. I could drink as much water as I wanted and have a bit of salt, but that was it. I thought, “Shouldn’t I be tested on my technique?” I didn’t ask, but at first, I wondered. Someone asked me recently if this experience was stressful. As a personal injury lawyer, stress is very relevant to what we do, but it’s also relevant to the rest of our lives. How we react to stress can affect everything, and with what the nation is going through, it may affect some of us just a little more every day. First, I think it’s important to recognize that there’s positive and negative stress. Stress can push us to achieve incredible things. But sometimes, stress can push us down too, especially when we feel like we don’t have control. The first week of fasting was stressful. Why weren’t my technical skills enough to prove that I could be a master? The frustration and the fasting were very difficult — but it didn’t stay that way. The pressure turned into positive stress as soon as I took control again when I realized that this wasn’t a question of my skills. It was a question of my integrity and character.
I immediately fix my posture. He started walking around me, and his face got very close to mine. He even started sniffing me. He was a true master because even if I had showered, I realized that he could smell whether I had cheated during my two weeks. I hadn’t. I passed. After two more days of fasting, I felt my body become even stronger. There was physical conditioning that came with the fasting, and I never would’ve realized or experienced it without being tested this way. Finally, my first meal came after 16 days. He rewarded me with a hearty meal of steak, potatoes, and green beans. Of course, it was all in processed baby food form because solid foods would’ve made me severely ill after fasting for two weeks. But that’s beside the point. I know the biggest difference between that story and my clients is that I had the choice to put myself through that. Often, my clients have their choice robbed from them, and their entire lives are changed.
experience can be at first, you have so much power within you that you don’t even know about. Of course, you can’t predict what’s going to happen when you’re going through something new and painful, and that can be very overwhelming. But, that doesn’t mean we have to allow bad things to get worse for us. That’s why my team at Sevenish Law Firm aims to take the burden off your back as much as possible so that you don’t even have to think about the legal process while fighting your own battles to get your life back on track. There might be instances where we need you to comply and call an insurance agent, but we work as hard as possible to make sure you’re ready for the next step. If you feel alone, you’re getting this newsletter because I want you to know we’re fighting right beside you. Experiencing stress doesn’t mean you’re helpless. People are more powerful than ever when there’s something pushing us, even if we can’t control what that is. Be safe and healthy, my friends, and have a wonderful June.
–Randall “Randy” Sevenish
But I did find something through that experience. No matter how stressful an
That made me think: “I’ll show you. I can do this.”
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CSI VS. REAL LIFE: THE TOP REASON FOR DELAYS IN CASES And Why It’s So Important to Visit the Doctor! In many ways, the legal process seems so simple in the media. We know that comparing the reality of your case to televised courtroom dramas can seem appealing, but it can actually be a source of stress. Legal dramas often cut out the most strenuous, boring aspects of an ongoing legal case, like the fact that you might have to wait weeks — or even months — to get into a courtroom, if your case goes into litigation at all. So let’s break it down: What exactly do TV shows leave out? Typically, a legal drama will show you a police investigation, the trial, characters looking for evidence, and the final trial. However, one of the biggest details is missing: the plaintiff’s visits to the doctor, or in other words, the treatment phase. In reality, many cases can be settled relatively quickly, and you won’t ever have to step into a courtroom. However, one of the biggest struggles of moving your case forward begins in the medical exam room. Your treatment phase itself isn’t a delay in the process; it’s a part of it. You should take as much time as needed to heal. However, it’s important to show valid evidence approved by an expert (in this case, a doctor) that proves the severity of your injury. Will it be possible for you to return to your pre-accident condition? If not, how badly has your baseline health been affected? What’s the long-term prognosis? Are your injuries related to the accident or due to a pre-existing condition? Even if you’ve followed all the doctor’s advice and attended all your appointments without any bumps in the road, getting your doctor’s official statement can still be tough. The Sevenish Difference is that we give your doctors everything they need to make their written narrative, including all the questions, and we follow up with them. However, doctors write these statements in their own time. Not only are they busy with patients running in and out of their office every day, but they can also have trouble writing it, especially if they haven’t seen you in months. If your treatment process has been put on pause or delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis, remember that you’re not alone! Give our office a call if you ever have questions about your case.
ENCOURAGING YOUR LITTLE GIRL Tips for Raising Strong, Confident Women In a time when it’s so easy to let technology and school run your child’s life, what’s your role as a parent or guardian? We often hear motivational quotes talking about the importance of risk-taking and resilience, but it can be tough for little girls to learn from just YouTube videos and school alone. Here’s how you can encourage your daughter to spark her own confidence during her toughest moments.
ENCOURAGE BRAVERY AND A GROWTH MINDSET. Even children can feel pressured to perform to high standards yet stay within their comfort zone. They might think, “I’m not strong enough to climb this tree.” But whether it’s climbing trees or building things with others, small feelings of bravery can grow larger as they grow older. Self-empowerment will be a crucial skill in their lives, so encourage a mindset focused on growth through the process of learning. Teach them how the brain grows and
My daughter Abby’s first karate class that eventually led her to being a World Champion.
adapts rapidly whenever we encounter failure and that failure and mistakes are a part of life. Once they understand that failure isn’t permanent, they’ll be inspired to take risks and solve their problems. TRUST YOUR DAUGHTER WHILE TEACHING GRIT. Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth studies successful people in a wide variety of fields, from business to the military, and has found that the quality most successful people share is grit. The ability to stay engaged with tough tasks for a long period of time is a skill that takes a long time to build, but it’s not impossible for your girl to begin developing grit right now. Duckworth believes the growth mindset can start young girls on a path to embracing failure and moving forward from it. However, a lack of trust in your daughter can suffocate her growth. Despite all the adult-directed activities we give our kids, we need to step back and let them make some of their own decisions. We can give them encouragement and help along the way, but for the most part, we need to trust they can solve problems on their own.
When you put faith and trust in your little girl to handle her most difficult problems, she’ll learn to do the same for herself.
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WHAT IS QIGONG? One of the Oldest Healing Techniques in the World Throughout history, meditation has been a powerful tool for accessing inner strength, both emotionally and physically. However, fewer meditation practices are as old and as practical as qigong (chee-gong). Qigong isn’t exclusively a meditation practice. It’s an ancient Chinese exercise and healing technique that utilizes meditation through controlled breathing and movement exercises. Peter Wayne, an assistant professor in the Harvard Medical School and research director at Harvard’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, explains that the “qi” in qigong represents a concept from traditional Chinese culture that roughly translates to vital energy, information, breath, or spirit. Practitioners repeat simple, slow movements, perform slow breathing, and develop strength and flexibility. You can practice qigong on yourself or others. At first, it might make you think of a different meditation practice: tai chi. There are many similarities between the two. Some researchers, like Wayne, consider tai chi to be a form of qigong. They even share identical forms in certain versions of each practice. Both practices focus on your life force — the energy of your physical body — and becoming more aware and in control of it. Discussions about energy can often draw skepticism from newcomers, but the benefits of qigong are numerous and well vetted among researchers. In 2010, researchers did a comprehensive research review to evaluate the health benefits of both qigong and tai chi. The magnitude of results was impressive. They found significant improvements to various aspects of practitioners’ health, including bone density, cardiopulmonary effects, physical function, falls and related risk factors, quality of life, self-efficacy, patient-reported outcomes, psychological symptoms, and immune function.
These potential benefits are the result of long-term practice and aren’t immediate, but they still intrigue researchers.
For centuries, the benefits and practice of qigong were kept secret. Only recently have masters stepped forward to defy a hyper-exclusive tradition and share it with the world. Sevenish learned qigong from Master Chunyi Lin, who teaches Spring Forest qigong. Through his practice, you can learn how to control your energy, lessen stress, and become a stronger individual and spiritual healer. To learn more, find Master Chunyi Lin’s teachings and website at SpringForestQigong.com.
Brain WORK!
HAVE YOU HEARD The Good News? Psalm 46:1–3 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
BUTTERFLY FLOWERS JEDI LADYBUG MAYFLY MEMORIAL MEXICO MOTHERS OUTDOORS POLLEN SUNSHINE TAURUS
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Inside THIS ISSUE
Sensei Sevenish’s Advice for Dealing With Stress Page 1
Tips for Raising Strong, Confident Women
CSI vs. Real Life: The Top Reason for Delays in Cases Page 2
What Is Qigong? Page 3
Meet the Woman Who Biked 4,200 Miles in 18 Days Page 4
MEET CYCLING LEGEND LAEL WILCOX
The WomanWho Raced 4,200 Miles in 18 Days and Won
Picture the distance between Oregon and Virginia on a U.S. map. Now, picture crossing that distance on a bicycle. Odds are you either can’t imagine it or you conjured up a monthslong slog, but in 2016, ultra- endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox crossed that distance in just 18 days and 10 minutes — the second-fastest time in the history of the Trans Am Bike Race. As hard as it is to believe, the 4,200 mile stretch from Astoria, Oregon, to Yorktown, Virginia, is actually a racecourse. Every June, roughly 50–100 cyclists undertake the journey, pedaling through a total of 10 states. It’s an insane obstacle course of cars, mountains, and weather events that riders go through alone, without required checkpoints or designated rest periods. When Wilcox won the Trans Am in 2016, she became the first woman and the first American ever to do so. According to NPR, the victory came down to a combination of endurance and luck. In the final days of the race, she was in second place behind Steffan Streich when exhaustion sent him pedaling out of Bumpass, Virginia, in the wrong direction. When the two met on the road at 3 a.m., a panicked Streich turned around and
sprinted neck and neck with Wilcox toward the finish. After a few miles, she pulled ahead and won.
In response to those who said a woman could never win the Trans Am, Wilcox told NPR, “If you beat ‘em, you beat ‘em. That’s what happens. And then everybody has to change the way they think.” Perhaps the most impressive thing about Wilcox, even more than her 2016 win, is that she didn’t start cycling until she was 20 years old, when her boyfriend at the time gave her a bike. Since then, she’s competed all over the world, logging a total of 100,000 miles in 35 countries. When she’s isn’t racing, Wilcox encourages teenage girls to try cycling with scholarships and group events. In November 2019, she even starred in “I Just Want to Ride,” a 38-minute film following her quest to win the 2019 Tour Divide Race. To learn more about the film and what makes Wilcox tick, visit LaelWilcox.com.
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