Shai Littlejohn was trained as a lawyer and worked at a firm in Washington, D.C., until she decided she wanted to be “free of schedules, free of being tied to a clock, of needing to have a hierarchy of titles and income.” Shai went back to school to pursue her love of music and now balances her time between practicing law and working as a country singer and songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee.
“I don’t have to regret all those dreams that went unfulfilled.”
When I was working the Washington lawyer lifestyle, I would spend lots of money on nice clothes and shoes, vacations, and eating out all the time with my single friends. I was making a lot of money, but it finally dawned on me that I was spending a lot of money in order to buy the happiness I was not having on my 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. clock. It wasn’t worth it. Peace means contentment. It means not having to worry. It means being OK with wherever you are. I can’t have peace without freedom. Freedom for me is waking up and not having anybody to answer to except myself.
It’s important to be thoughtful about what we do and how we spend our time. We have to find a way to turn off things that are negative. If you keep playing a negative story in your mind, if you don’t believe in yourself or in the person you’re with, that will become what you believe and that will become what you accomplish. You’ll make it happen. It’s important to see the good that exists in people and in the world, and play that music a little louder than the negative stuff.
Shai Littlejohn short audio clip
Shai Littlejohn full audio
Discussion Questions
- Do you believe that you can be and do anything you want to be?
- What do you sacrifice in life to be happy? What is it about that sacrifice that brings you happiness?
- How do you define freedom? What are some characteristics of freedom? How does that relate to your understanding of peace?
- Have you ever “climbed up the ladder” only to then “climb down the ladder”?
- Do you find yourself dwelling more on positive things or negative things?