Editor's Note
By Heidi Beginski, Board Certified Paralegal, Personal Injury Trial Law, Texas
Board of Legal Specialization
Some people always make everything harder than it has to be. I would be the first
to admit I have a tendency to over-think life. Being a paralegal has taught me that
sometimes I cannot see every step toward completion of a project, but the one thing that
is certain is the fact that I will never get there at all unless I start working. I’m not crazy;
it just never occurs to me that it will be impossible. Time and again, it has turned out
not to be. I decide that I am going to achieve a goal and I make it happen. And it’s not
that I’m lucky; it is just that I am too simple to make things complicated without having
to really work hard at it. I’ve learned a lot over the past two decades. I have become a bit less naïve, and at
times my exuberant persistence fades. In fact, there are many times when I ask myself,
“How hard, how complicated, how overwhelmingly difficulty can I make this?” I often
catch myself doing this, and then recall one of the things my father told me (repeatedly,
and apparently for good reason): “It shouldn’t be that hard to do. If you have to force it,
you’re not doing it right.” Usually Dad was referring to my skills of putting something
together or taking something apart, but I think his wisdom transcends the activity to
which it can be applied. I recently spent a good part of my work days climbing over electronic components
and things I cannot name in the back of two 53-foot trailers to locate documents that
may or may not be relevant to what may or may not turn into a lawsuit. It was dark,
dirty (beyond description), and hot. There was evidence of rats, and at least one living
cockroach. The “bonus” (besides reading the love letters some guy had stashed in his
desk and the opportunity to work with an attorney from San Antonio), was to prove to
myself that I could do it. Why do we insist on doing it the hard way when the easy way will do? Perhaps the
more we learn, the more “educated” we become, and the more analysis we engage in, the
more we set ourselves up for pitfalls to present their creepy, crawly selves. I wish I could say I have learned my lesson and don’t fall into the “How hard can I
make it?” trap anymore, but I will have to continue to aspire to not make things perfect.
Except for snakes—next time one gets in the shower with me I’m calling my friend with
the hand gun so we shoot it and turn it into a hat band!
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