President’s Message
Wellness in the Workplace
Michelle Bernardo-Rudy, Esquire President Chester County Bar Association
Being a lawyer usually involves some level of conflict, however, when you factor in what we all have going on in our personal lives – school age children in a pandemic, aging parents, college age students, illness – it only adds to our growing pile.
irst and foremost, I want to say how honored I am to be leading the Chester County Bar Association this year. Thank you to everyone for your advice and well wishes! I am excited to see what the year brings. I am also looking forward to working with the incoming board and the amazing staff that we have at the bar association.
I would like to look forward with hope and optimism. A judge in Alabama once called me stupidly optimistic. I’ll take it. I have certainly been called worse over the years. But I often think about that judge, looking at me from the bench as I tried to argue my client’s cause. “Counsel,” he said, “You are stupidly optimistic about your chances here today.” Isn’t that what this is all about? Don’t we take on the cause to fight for our clients no matter the odds? Don’t we, as lawyers, all possess some level of stupid optimism? I hope so!!! Otherwise, why do we do it?
It is the beginning of January 2022 – and looking in the rear-view mirror we have all been through a lot over the past two years. A never-ending pandemic, one of the ugliest election cycles in our lifetimes, fiercely divided politics, social unrest, and the list goes on. These issues have impacted our lives in some form or another. As I know from my own experience and those of my peers – these things also impact our clients’ lives, which adds another level of challenge to our abilities to serve them.
This year my focus is at least two-fold. First, I want to focus on wellness for our members. I would like to help us focus on a little rejuvenating time for ourselves. As I mentioned at the Annual Meeting, each month we will pick a random member to receive a gift certificate to a local business. We will have gift cards to local restaurants, fitness studios/gyms, salons, and other local entertainment to help us step away and get some much needed down time. Go out to eat. Get a massage. Have a quiet cup
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