We all know people who seem to be incapable of shying away from letting us know how great they are. This practice is rampant in both real life and on social media. The wonderful families, the awesome business, the personal accomplishments, the good works, the great job, the perfect spouse, the happy children, and on and on. I think there is a difference between letting people know about yourself and your life, and creating a facade of accomplishment and perfection.

I am bored. Forgive me, I am easily bored by the grandstanding and self aggrandizement of so many. I am put off by all that accomplishment and perfection. Life is not a contest. Not a race to the top. The final destination is the same for all of us.

Our humanness is our vulnerability. I used to know someone who consciously tried to create his personal brand. The right clothes, the right things, the right look, the right girlfriend, etc. That person is doomed to a life of shallow loneliness. He doesn't even understand why he's so lonely. Because although some people gravitate to him to share his superficial aura, in truth they don't really trust or love him. He continues to live his life in the half-light of his own delusions.

And there are others. People who seem to try to do good, and can't stop telling us how good they are. I know another person who has accomplished quite a lot so far in her life. She's in her thirties, has paid off her mortgage, has a successful business, owns rental properties, has an attractive family, and has completed a doctorate. Impressive to be sure. But, she somehow makes me feel like I don't measure up. I'm not jealous. But, I avoid her.

Defy Gravity

People have attempted to defy gravity through the ages. Through trial, error, and unwavering persistence. People have soared to the moon and back. And beyond. The record for the farthest distance that humans have traveled goes to the all-American crew of the Apollo 13 who traveled 248,655 miles away from Earth on April 14, 1970. 248,655 miles and back.

Greek mythology tells of Icarus and Daedaleus failed flight too close to the sun. The Wright brothers studied the birds in their quest to defy gravity. And so many more to follow, making small steps and giant leaps. We remember the successes, and mourn the failures as mankind continues to strive to defy gravity. To build on what is there. To build on what others have done before.

Always in defiance of gravity. Always in defiance of – this is the way we've always done it. The naysayers, the small minds, the negative thinkers. Always in defiance of those who would keep us down. We defy them. Together.

No one person invented air flight or space travel. Little by little, one idea stacked on another. Each piece of progress added on.

It is the same in our industry. This industry, this document preparation industry, which is so much more than preparing documents, so much more than ink on paper, consists of a vast collection of ideas and practices. The pursuit of justice and fundamental fairness has always been there in one form or another. Likewise the forces pulling against justice and fairness have been present forever. Defy gravity.

Make your way. Each one of us has the opportunity to create our own path. The responsibility to stretch to new heights. There is no road map for what we do. No formula for success. Each of us builds a niche and fine tunes it. Then someone new follows and builds on that success, adding new services, processes, and ideas to a system that is already working in order to make it work even better.

To better deliver services to consumers. To more efficiently provide pro se litigants a path to justice and fundamental fairness. Because, we know that consumers' lack of understanding, lack of knowledge of the arcane world of the law should not cause them to lose. Lose their money, lose their children, or lose their homes.

I urge you to continue to defy gravity. And, strive for the appearance of ease and grace. So that the forces who would keep us down will be confused and thwarted. Our successes will continue to rise and be emulated by those who come next.

Webinars

Saturday, September 25th at 11:00 a.m. EST.

Invitations will go out to all members this week on Tuesday or Wednesday. If you are a current member and do not receive an invitation, please contact us at faldp2010@gmail.com. See you there!

And check this page - training-webinars.html for updates. If you have a request or question about our webinars, call or email us. staff@faldp.org or 800-515-0496. See you there!

Certificates of Membership

Updated certificates of membership were sent out to members in August. Newer members may not have received a Certificate, please request one if you like. We generally issue these upon membership renewal. We send them via email from faldp2010@gmail.com. If you are maintaining or seeking FALDP Certification, you can earn one CEU simply by displaying your certificate on social media, and sending us a screen shot.

Member Directory Overhaul

(In Progress)

We had hoped to complete this in August, but had to put this project on hold to prepare for the conference. But we still plan to restructure the online Member Directory. The goal is to make it easier for consumers to use, making it easier for consumers to find members, the result is our members are found more easily (and more often); therefore our members make more money. Everything we do … we do for our members. At the moment, we can't explain our plans in detail as the details are still evolving. However, we can say this: Expect positive changes like more exposure for members' businesses; and the mini-pages becoming more important. If you already have a mini-page, good for you, please check it to make sure its up to date. If you've never set up your optional mini-page, now would be a good time.

The information that members provide for the county directory will most likely stay the same. Please check your listing to make sure all is correct. Any changes or updates should be made through the Members Only area. Please don't send an email requesting a change or update on a member listing. These requests can easily get lost in our mail, and your change won't be made.

Please note: We will no longer add member information to the Member Directory for those members who have neglected to do so.

New Mark

Now Available!

The new logo is now available for member's use. We have already begun including the new Logo Pack in the Welcome Package for new members. It is also available inside the Members Only area. Right click and "save image as" to save it to your computer. Or send us an email to request that we email them to you.

Please keep in mind that the old (legacy) logo is still completely valid and you can continue to use it for the time being. Eventually we may retire the legacy logo, but we have no immediate plans to do so.

You can share our videos & articles!

We have a growing list of videos on our channel. They're all about different aspects of document preparation, branded with the FALDP logo and information. Members are invited to use our videos on their sites, online ads, or on social media. Depending on where you display, you can share from YouTube, by using the share link or embed code.

For example, on your own business FB page, you could share one of our divorce videos, and above it simply state that you are an FALDP member, and you prepare documents for divorce.

And, FALDP members are also invited to use content from our blog on their site and social media. Check out our searchable blog on Legal Sunshine Please remember to give proper attribution. Almost all blog articles were written by Ruth Tick, a few are guest posts. Excerpts are allowed, as some of the articles are very long. Be sure to state that this is an excerpt of ...

Spanish Parenting Course Available

The Spanish version of the Parenting Course, offered through our sister company, Horizon Research Network, LLC, has been approved by DCF. We received notification of its approval on October 9th, 2020.

Prices are the same as our English version. $29.99 and $14.99 for low income. Here's the link directly to the Spanish version - spanish parenting course The Spanish version is also displayed on our FALDP site, and can be accessed by going to the English version.

Parenting Course

Parental Education and Family Stabilization Course is mandatory for all divorcing couples who have children; and all people seeking a paternity action. The cost is $29.99 and $14.99 for indigent. Here's the link directly to the - Parenting Course

Don't have a site yet? Try Monarch Web Strategies

FALDP Private Facebook Group

About one third of our membership has joined the FALDP private Facebook group. We created it to make it easier to interact with each other. So far, people have given work referrals to one another; asked questions to the group; received help in locating a form; and discussed various issues. If you're working toward FALDP Certification, you earn one CEU just by joining the group. So, what are you waiting for? Look for the private group after going to the official FALDP Facebook page at FALDP,LLC on Facebook.

Member's Announcements & Contributions

Have something to share?

If you would like to write an article, editorial, opinion piece, or web page please let us know. We are always in need of fresh information and insights.