Everyone has a story. It usually begins when you start to notice that something is missing in your life and you are not sure what it is. I hope my story inspires you to discover what's missing in your life and to live a life of meaning. We all have a yearning that calls us. This call is only answered when we follow our heart and live in harmony with it. Sometimes we need guidance and inspiration to answer that call.

Every once in a while you have to take a leap of faith. That leap of faith for me ultimately changed my life. It was 1999. Would I really do it? For the previous six years I had carefully planned for this next period of my life. I had been a trial lawyer for 30 years. I had reached the point in my life when I just didn't want to do it any more. My soul cried out. But what was I going to do instead? How was I going to support my family? My children were 13, 11, and 8. Although I put some money aside for their education and for our future I wondered if it would be enough.

Let me take you back a few years. I was raised with the idea that it was our responsibility to make the world a better place. Through the practice of law I could right the wrongs of our society. I represented the poor and oppressed and fought for social change. But after a while the financial realities of beginning a family set in. I changed my focus and began to treat my law practice primarily as a business.

This change in focus also dovetailed with my shift on the inner level. I became a committed meditator and to this day meditate regularly. Needless to say my life was impacted on many levels many of which I am still unaware of.

As the quest for meaning and purpose became my primary focus, what I did and who I hung out with shifted. I wouldn't call myself a personal growth fanatic, but I was close. During those days I began reading many personal growth books most of which were about finding success and fulfillment in life. The principles from these books helped pave the way for my taking the leap of faith that I made many years later.

My life style was different than most attorneys that I knew. Not only did I have many different interests but I made time for them. This led to our family living on the island of Kauai three months of the year. What also shifted for me was how I related to my profession. Now it was just one of many things that I did.

As I continued on this path, there was divergence. The path of awakening which involved, music, yoga, meditation and living in nature was what made me whole. The law practice although good to me became more challenging to juggle. I especially noticed this upon returning from Kauai.

As the nineties progressed I reached a new level of success in my career and I wondered for the first time if it would be possible to let go of my law practice. The year 2000 had always been significant in my thinking. Since I had been a kid I had listened to many prophecies ranging from the world is coming to an end to we were entering the Age of Aguarius. In 1996 I made a decision. I told my associate Larry Johnson that if things went well, 1999 would be my last year of practicing.

But it was a decision that took a great deal of planning. If I was really going to give up the practice of law I couldn't take on new cases and had to plan for the fact that some of them might be going on at the end of the year. . Things went really well and as I approached that moment of truth there was still some doubt as to whether I would follow through on my promise to myself. Would I give up my livelihood that had provided for me all of these years?

The timing seemed perfect. I was done being a lawyer. Once I made the decision that this was it, divine guidance took over. Now I was entering a new phase. For a while it was great but I soon became restless and started feeling those bumps on the road. I had also miscalculated our financial situation.

I had always wanted to make a difference in the lives of others as a teacher or mentor but didn't know where to start. As I have said by this time divine guidance had taken over. Things and events began to happen that supported me on my journey. There are certain people you meet at the right time. Russell Neece was one of them . On a visit to Optimum Health, a health spa, in Austin, Texas, Russell became a mentor to me. As I expressed my despair to Russell over finding meaning in my life and how to serve others, he suggested that I thank spirit for revealing to me my next step. “It might be revealed next week or six months from now but it will be revealed,” he compassionately told me.

On Kauai a few months later I came to a decision that I would become a life coach although I wasn't exactly sure what a 'life coach' was. I took the next step by enrolling in the first of many coaching courses.

On the return to Marin I had an experience that reinforced that this was the right decision. As I was getting on the plane, a man said to me: “I know you, you're an attorney.” After telling him that I hadn't been an attorney for over a year he asked me what I was doing. Rick Baskin became my good friend and first coaching client. That's the way it has gone since making that decision. Although my path has not been mapped out so that I can see what's next, one thing has always led to the next. That's what makes it exciting. I trust that it's all unfolding as it should. It's been eight years now that I have been on this journey.

I feel blessed. I get to walk this path with many fellow travelors. I learn as much from them as they learn from me. It gives me hope to know that we are all in this together. I trust the journey and know that I am being guided.

Journey On