I want to tell a story about a client, and for obvious reasons, I’m conflating her name and parts of her story. What is very, very true is the strength, determination and warmth she possess. The heart of the story is WHY I coach and why I love, love, love this work.

I’ve heard that statement precisely three times in my life. The first two times were for speeding, and I knew darn well why I was stopped. This time, I have to admit, my mind was in so many places, so I actually wasn’t sure.

I knew I had not been on my phone.

I was pretty sure I hadn’t been speeding because I had been in a rotary (for you non-New Englanders, I think you call them traffic circles).

I was stumped, but I knew enough not to argue and being the Obliger* I am, I was smart enough to fess up to making a mistake and begin fumbling an apology.

As I tried to do that, I felt my heart racing. My mind jumped from my heart to my calendar to the look on this cop’s face. Her face said, “LADY. SLOW. THE. HECK. DOWN” and she wasn’t just talking about speeding.

She asked where I was going, and I simply said: “to meet a friend.” Truth: I was meeting a friend who is also my hairdresser for a freaking bang trim.

I then asked if I could call my friend to say I’d be late and my friendly cop said, “Absolutely not. Do not touch anything.”