What is your superpower? I’ve been stewing on this one a few days and don’t have a very fun or interesting answer. I can carry lots of dishes, a holdover from the waitress days. I can keep indoor plants very happy (still working on outdoor!) I can read people’s moods, although I think this is more Kryptonite than super power, as I’m often monitoring and mediating where it isn’t even necessary.
What do you regret? I went to law school and became a lawyer in my thirties to improve my family’s financial situation, and I’ve managed that. But I still often regret being a lawyer. It is such a stressful job – my therapist says most of her clients are lawyers. What else could I have done, I wonder? The intellectual rigor, the writing, the strategy are all fun. But there are few professions I can think of besides maybe a police detective that give the employee so little control over their own life and schedule. You are beholden to the judge, opposing counsel, your client, the partners above you . . . your plans can be shredded in a moment, it keeps you from being reliable to family and friends because at any moment you can be torn away. We have solid 529 plans for the boys, at age 40 I was finally able to start saving in a 401k for retirement, we have put together a decent (not amazing, but ok) cash cushion for savings – all things I never thought I’d have! But what price, financial security?